Which class is used to control cardiac arrhythmias?

Which class is used to control cardiac arrhythmias?

• A. Anticoagulant
• B. Vasodilator
• C. Beta-blocker
• D. Antiarrhythmic

Answer: (D)

The key idea is drugs that specifically modify the heart’s electrical activity to prevent and correct abnormal rhythms. Antiarrhythmic drugs are designed for this purpose: they change how quickly heart cells depolarize, how fast electrical impulses travel through the heart, and how long those cells stay refractory. By doing so, they suppress ectopic impulses and reentrant circuits that cause arrhythmias and help restore a normal rhythm. Beta-blockers are often used to control certain arrhythmias because they reduce sympathetic stimulation and slow conduction through the AV node, but they are part of the broader antiarrhythmic category (Class II). Other classes—sodium channel blockers, potassium channel blockers, and calcium channel blockers—also exist within antiarrhythmic drugs, each altering different aspects of cardiac excitation and refractoriness. Anticoagulants or vasodilators do not directly regulate the heart’s electrical rhythm, so they’re not the primary classes used for rhythm control. So the class specifically aimed at controlling cardiac arrhythmias is antiarrhythmic drugs.

The key idea is drugs that specifically modify the heart’s electrical activity to prevent and correct abnormal rhythms. Antiarrhythmic drugs are designed for this purpose: they change how quickly heart cells depolarize, how fast electrical impulses travel through the heart, and how long those cells stay refractory. By doing so, they suppress ectopic impulses and reentrant circuits that cause arrhythmias and help restore a normal rhythm.

Beta-blockers are often used to control certain arrhythmias because they reduce sympathetic stimulation and slow conduction through the AV node, but they are part of the broader antiarrhythmic category (Class II). Other classes—sodium channel blockers, potassium channel blockers, and calcium channel blockers—also exist within antiarrhythmic drugs, each altering different aspects of cardiac excitation and refractoriness. Anticoagulants or vasodilators do not directly regulate the heart’s electrical rhythm, so they’re not the primary classes used for rhythm control.

So the class specifically aimed at controlling cardiac arrhythmias is antiarrhythmic drugs.