Bretylium

Abstract

BRETYLIUM tosylate (Bretylol) is a bromobenzyl quaternary ammonium compound (Fig. 1). In the fifties bretylium was shown to inhibit release of norepinephrine from adrenergic nerve endings¹ and found its first clinical use in the treatment of hypertension.² It soon fell out of favor, because absorption after oral administration is incomplete and variable and because tolerance to its antihypertensive effect develops rapidly. Interest in bretylium revived in the middle sixties, when it was found to exert antiarrhythmic actions.^{3 , 4} During the last decade these actions have been extensively studied both in laboratory animals and in patients with dysrhythmias. Recently, bretylium tosylate was . . .