Potassium Channel Blockade: A Mechanism for Suppressing Ventricular Fibrillation

The suppression of ventricular fibrillation by antidysrhythmic drugs is well correlated with their ability to block potassium channels in nerve and cardiac membranes. blockade of potassium channels reduces electrical inhomogeneities in action potential and conduction parameters that lead to ventricular fibrillation. These actions tend to effectively decrease the electrical size of the heart, which suggests a mechanism for antifibrillatory drug action. The receptor sites for antifibrillatory drug action (I_K blockade) appear to be on the outside of the cardiac membrane whereas receptors for antiarrhythmic drug action (I_Na blockade) appear to be on the inside of the cardiac membrane.