Parameter Set Antiarrhythmic Drugs - LC-MS/MS

Clinical relevance

Antiarrhythmic drugs are used for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia to reduce their frequency or intensity. The severity of ventricular and supraventricular rhythm disturbances ranges from harmless extra beats through to complex multiple blows and life-threatening tachycardia. By using antiarrhythmic agents, it is possible to restore a normal electrical cardiac activity. Since antiarrhythmic drugs are an inhomogeneous group, in their chemistry and mechanisms of action, various side effects and drug interactions have to be considered. Their use should be monitored by ECG monitoring, electrolyte and plasma level determinations, in particular when starting new drug regimens. As each antiarrhythmic drug possesses a pro-arrhythmic potential, it also can cause cardiac arrhythmia. Furthermore, there are drug-drug interactions between the different antiarrhythmics, and therefore, combinations should be taken with extreme caution as well as with due attention to the side-effects and interaction profiles. For these reasons cardiac arrhythmia are often only treated with medication when they are very dangerous or associated with a high burden for the patient.

Product advantages

With the Parameter Set Antiarrhythmic Drugs in serum/plasma, 25 different drugs can be measured quickly and efficiently using LC-MS/MS. By carefully optimising all of the kit components and the chromatographic separation, matrix effects (“ion suppression”) have been minimised and the robustness of the method has been enhanced. Sample preparation is based on protein precipitation. The use of stable isotopically labelled (deuterated), co-eluting internal standards as well as the 3PLUS1® multilevel calibrator guarantees high precision and reliable quantification. The method is comprehensively validated.

The Parameter Set is a part of the Series A modular system, which enables the analysis of all parameters without switching column or changing the mobile phases, thereby minimising required workload in the laboratory. The Basic Kit A contains all components required for sample preparation and all necessary mobile phases. The MasterColumn® A is the analytical column used for the determination of all Series A analytes. Our portfolio contains further MassTox® Parameter Sets.

For the analysis you require the MassTox® TDM Basic Kit A, the specific MassTox® TDM Parameter Set and the analytical column MassTox® TDM MasterColumn® A.