Dronedarone: A New Therapeutic Alternative for Cardiac Arrhythmias

Sir, As a new therapeutic agent for cardiac arrhythmias, dronedarone (Multaq®), a drug from Sanofi-Aventis, was approved by the FDA on July 2, 2009.[1] It is now available in the market in the form of tablets having 400 mg of the active ingredient. For patients requiring drug therapy or electroshock therapy to retain their normal rhythms, dronedarone is a useful option. However, treatment with dronedarone was associated with an increased likelihood in deaths due to heart failure.[2] Hence, the FDA did not approve dronedarone without a warning for causing deaths in patients with heart failure.[3] Figure 1 shows the structure, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemists (IUPAC) name, and chemical class of dronedarone.