Sotalol
Sotalol is an antiarrhythmic medicine with beta-blocking and potassium-channel-blocking effects. It can also provoke a dangerous rhythm disturbance, so treatment requires clinical monitoring. Listed uses include ventricular arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation.
Key points
- Sotalol can prolong the QT interval and cause torsades de pointes, a potentially life-threatening heart rhythm.
- Kidney function, heart rate, ECG findings and potassium and magnesium levels affect safe use.
- Do not start, stop or change sotalol without the prescribing team, because both the medicine and the underlying arrhythmia require management.
Listings are for comparison only; suitability and supply depend on cardiology, prescription and pharmacy checks plus the monitoring plan.
How it works
Sotalol slows some adrenaline-related effects on the heart and prolongs cardiac electrical recovery. These actions may control an arrhythmia but can also slow the pulse or lengthen the QT interval.
Important safety checks
Assessment may include an ECG, kidney function and electrolytes before and during treatment. Tell the clinician about fainting, asthma, a slow pulse, heart failure, diarrhoea or vomiting, and all medicines that can affect heart rhythm.
When to seek urgent care
Seek urgent help for fainting, a new rapid or irregular heartbeat, chest pain, severe breathlessness, marked dizziness or a seizure.