Amiodarone Hydrochloride Prescribing Information
Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets is indicated for the treatment of documented, life-threatening recurrent ventricular fibrillation and life-threatening recurrent hemodynamically unstable tachycardia in adults who have not responded to adequate doses of other available antiarrhythmics or when alternative agents cannot be tolerated.
Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets is an antiarrhythmic indicated for:
- Recurrent ventricular fibrillation.
- Recurrent hemodynamically unstable ventricular tachycardia.
Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets may cause a clinical syndrome of cough and progressive dyspnea accompanied by functional, radiographic, gallium-scan, and pathological data consistent with pulmonary toxicity. Pulmonary toxicity secondary to Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets may result from either indirect or direct toxicity as represented by hypersensitivity pneumonitis (including eosinophilic pneumonia) or interstitial/alveolar pneumonitis, respectively. Rates of pulmonary toxicity have been reported to be as high as 17% and is fatal in about 10% of cases. Obtain a baseline chest X-ray and pulmonary-function tests, including diffusion capacity, when Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets therapy is initiated. Repeat history, physical exam, and chest X-ray every 3 to 6 months or if symptoms occur. Consider alternative antiarrhythmic therapy if the patient experiences signs or symptoms of pulmonary toxicity. Prednisone 40 to 60 mg/day tapered over several weeks may be helpful in treating pulmonary toxicity.
Postoperatively, occurrences of ARDS have been reported in patients receiving Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets therapy who have undergone either cardiac or noncardiac surgery. Although patients usually respond well to vigorous respiratory therapy, in rare instances the outcome has been fatal.
Asymptomatic elevations of hepatic enzyme levels are seen frequently, but Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets can cause life-threatening hepatic injury. Histology has resembled that of alcoholic hepatitis or cirrhosis. Obtain baseline and periodic liver transaminases. If transaminases exceed three times normal, or doubles in a patient with an elevated baseline, discontinue or reduce dose of Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets, obtain follow-up tests and treat appropriately.
Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets can exacerbate the presenting arrhythmia in about 2 to 5% of patients or cause new ventricular fibrillation, incessant ventricular tachycardia, increased resistance to cardioversion, and polymorphic ventricular tachycardia associated with QTc prolongation (Torsade de Pointes [TdP]).
Correct hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypocalcemia before initiating treatment with Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets, as these disorders can exaggerate the degree of QTc prolongation and increase the potential for TdP. Give special attention to electrolyte and acid-base balance in patients experiencing severe or prolonged diarrhea or receiving drugs affecting electrolyte levels, such as diuretics, laxatives, systemic corticosteroids, or amphotericin B.
Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets is indicated for the treatment of documented, life-threatening recurrent ventricular fibrillation and life-threatening recurrent hemodynamically unstable tachycardia in adults who have not responded to adequate doses of other available antiarrhythmics or when alternative agents cannot be tolerated.
Dosage must be individualized based on severity of arrhythmia and response. Use the lowest effective dose. Obtain baseline chest x-ray, pulmonary function tests, thyroid function tests, and liver aminotransferases. Correct hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypocalcemia before initiating treatment
Initiate treatment with a loading doses of 800 to 1600 mg/day until initial therapeutic response occurs (usually 1 to 3 weeks). Once adequate arrhythmia control is achieved, or if side effects become prominent, reduce Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets dose to 600 to 800 mg/day for one month and then to the maintenance dose, usually 400 mg/day.
Administer Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets consistently with regard to meals
Following oral administration in humans, Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets is slowly and variably absorbed. The bioavailability of Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets is approximately 50%. Maximum plasma concentrations are attained 3 to 7 hours after a single dose. Plasma concentrations with chronic dosing at 100 to 600 mg/day are approximately dose proportional, with a mean 0.5 mg/L increase for each 100 mg/day. These means, however, include considerable individual variability.
Food increases the rate and extent of absorption of Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets. The effects of food upon the bioavailability of Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets have been studied in 30 healthy subjects who received a single 600-mg dose immediately after consuming a high-fat meal and following an overnight fast. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) and the peak plasma concentration (Cmax) of amiodarone increased by 2.3 (range 1.7 to 3.6) and 3.8 (range 2.7 to 4.4) times, respectively, in the presence of food. Food also increased the rate of absorption of amiodarone, decreasing the time to peak plasma concentration (Tmax) by 37%. The mean AUC and mean Cmaxof the major metabolite of amiodarone, DEA increased by 55% (range 58 to 101%) and 32% (range 4 to 84%), respectively, but there was no change in the Tmaxin the presence of food.
Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets is highly protein-bound (approximately 96%). Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets has a very large but variable volume of distribution, averaging about 60 L/kg, because of extensive accumulation in various sites, especially adipose tissue and highly perfused organs, such as the liver, lung, and spleen.
One major metabolite of Amiodarone Hydrochloride, DEA, has been identified in man; it accumulates to an even greater extent in almost all tissues. No data are available on the activity of DEA in humans, but in animals, it has significant electrophysiologic and antiarrhythmic effects generally similar to amiodarone itself. DEA’s precise role and contribution to the antiarrhythmic activity of oral amiodarone are not certain. The development of maximal ventricular class III effects after oral Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets administration in humans correlates more closely with DEA accumulation over time than with amiodarone accumulation.
Following single dose administration in 12 healthy subjects, Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets exhibited multi-compartmental pharmacokinetics with a mean apparent plasma terminal elimination half-life of 58 days (range 15 to 142 days) for amiodarone and 36 days (range 14 to 75 days) for the active metabolite (DEA). In patients, following discontinuation of chronic oral therapy, Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tabletshas been shown to have a biphasic elimination with an initial 50% reduction of plasma levels after 2.5 to 10 days. A much slower terminal plasma-elimination phase shows a half-life of the parent compound ranging from 26 to 107 days, with a mean of approximately 53 days and most patients in the 40- to 55-day range. In the absence of a loading-dose period, steady-state plasma concentrations, at constant oral dosing, would therefore be reached between 130 and 535 days, with an average of 265 days. For the metabolite, the mean plasma- elimination half-life was approximately 61 days. These data probably reflect an initial elimination of drug from well-perfused tissue (the 2.5- to 10-day half-life phase), followed by a terminal phase representing extremely slow elimination from poorly perfused tissue compartments such as fat.
The considerable inter-subject variation in both phases of elimination, as well as uncertainty as to what compartment is critical to drug effect, requires attention to individual responses once arrhythmia control is achieved with loading doses because the correct maintenance dose is determined, in part, by the elimination rates. Individualize maintenance doses of Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets
Amiodarone is metabolized to DEA by the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme group, specifically CYP3A and CYP2C8. The CYP3A isoenzyme is present in both the liver and intestines.
Amiodarone is eliminated primarily by hepatic metabolism and biliary excretion and there is negligible excretion of amiodarone or DEA in urine. Neither amiodarone nor DEA is dialyzable.
Although no dosage adjustment for patients with renal, hepatic, or cardiac abnormalities has been defined during chronic treatment with oral amiodarone, close clinical monitoring is prudent for elderly patients and those with severe left ventricular dysfunction.
Amiodarone taken concomitantly with
Metabolism of
Amiodarone can inhibit the metabolism
Amiodarone taken concomitantly with
100 mg tablets: Mottled pink, round, flat-faced, bevelled-edge tablets, engraved “^
53” on one side and plain on other side.
200 mg tablets: Mottled pink, round, flat-faced, bevelled-edge tablets, engraved ‘^’ over score and ‘54’ below score on one side and plain on other side
400 mg tablets: Mottled pink, round, flat-faced bevelled-edge tablets, engraved “^” over score and “055” below score on one side and plain on the other side.
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Pregnancy: May cause fetal harm. ()
8.1 PregnancyRisk SummaryAvailable data from postmarketing reports and published case series indicate that amiodarone use in pregnant women may increase the risk for fetal adverse effects including neonatal hypo- and hyperthyroidism, neonatal bradycardia, neurodevelopmental abnormalities, preterm birth and fetal growth restriction. Amiodarone and its metabolite, desethylamiodarone (DEA), cross the placenta. Untreated underlying arrhythmias, including ventricular arrhythmias, during pregnancy pose a risk to the mother and fetus
(see Clinical Considerations).In animal studies, administration of amiodarone to rabbits, rats, and mice during organogenesis resulted in embryo- fetal toxicity at doses less than the maximum recommended human maintenance dose(see Data). Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus.The estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated population is unknown. All pregnancies have a background risk of birth defect, loss or other adverse outcomes. In the U.S. general population, the estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage in clinically recognized pregnancies is 2%-4% and 15%-20%, respectively.
Clinical ConsiderationsDisease-associated maternal and or embryo/fetal RiskThe incidence of ventricular tachycardia is increased and may be more symptomatic during pregnancy. Ventricular arrhythmias most often occur in pregnant women with underlying cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, or mitral valve prolapse. Most tachycardia episodes are initiated by ectopic beats and the occurrence of arrhythmia episodes may therefore, increase during pregnancy due to the increased propensity to ectopic activity. Breakthrough arrhythmias may also occur during pregnancy, as therapeutic treatment levels may be difficult to maintain due to the increased volume of distribution and increased drug metabolism inherent in the pregnant state.
Fetal/Neonatal adverse reactionsAmiodarone and its metabolite have been shown to cross the placenta. Adverse fetal effects associated with maternal amiodarone use during pregnancy may include neonatal bradycardia, QT prolongation, and periodic ventricular extrasystoles, neonatal hypothyroidism (with or without goiter) detected antenatally or in the newborn and reported even after a few days of exposure, neonatal hyperthyroxinemia, neurodevelopmental abnormalities independent of thyroid function, including speech delay and difficulties with written language and arithmetic, delayed motor development, and ataxia, jerk nystagmus with synchronous head titubation, fetal growth restriction, and premature birth. Monitor the newborn for signs and symptoms of thyroid disorder and cardiac arrhythmias.
Labor and DeliveryRisk of arrhythmias may increase during labor and delivery. Patients treated with Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets should be monitored continuously during labor and delivery
[see Warnings and Precautions (5.4)].DataAnimal DataIn pregnant rats and rabbits during the period of organogenesis, amiodarone HCl in doses of 25 mg/kg/day (approximately 0.4 and 0.9 times, respectively, the maximum recommended human maintenance dose*) had no adverse effects on the fetus. In the rabbit,
75 mg/kg/day (approximately 2.7 times the maximum recommended human maintenance dose*) caused abortions in greater than 90% of the animals. In the rat, doses of 50 mg/kg/day or more were associated with slight displacement of the testes and an increased incidence of incomplete ossification of some skull and digital bones; at 100 mg/kg/day or more, fetal body weights were reduced; at 200 mg/kg/day, there was an increased incidence of fetal resorption. (These doses in the rat are approximately 0.8, 1.6 and 3.2 times the maximum recommended human maintenance dose*) Adverse effects on fetal growth and survival also were noted in one of two strains of mice at a dose of 5 mg/kg/day (approximately 0.04 times the maximum recommended human maintenance dose*).*600 mg in a 60 kg patient (doses compared on a body surface area basis)
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Lactation: Breastfeeding not recommended. ()
8.2 LactationRisk SummaryAmiodarone and one of its major metabolites, DEA, are present in breastmilk at between 3.5% and 45% of the maternal weight- adjusted dosage of amiodarone. There are cases of hypothyroidism and bradycardia in breastfed infants, although it is unclear if these effects are due to amiodarone exposure in breastmilk. Breastfeeding is not recommended during treatment with Amiodarone Hydrochloride Tablets
[seeWarnings and Precautions (5.6, 5.7)].
- Cardiogenic shock.
- Sick sinus syndrome, second- or third-degree atrioventricular block, bradycardia leading to syncope without a functioning pacemaker.
- Known hypersensitivity to the drug or to any of its components, including iodine.