From the University Departments of Medical Cardiology and Anaesthetics, Royal Infirmary,

The cardiovascular effects of the beta-adrenergic blocking agent, sotalol, have been assessed in a group of patients with heart disease. There was a significant reduction in heart rate and cardiac output, but stroke volume was unchanged. Systemic arterial andpulmonary artery pressures were not significantly altered. Indices of mryocardial function (dp/dt max and V max) were also significantly reduced. Though previous studies have reported that sotalol is devoid of myocardial depression associ-ated with other beta-adrenergic blocking drugs, these results suggest that sotalol has both a nega-tive chronotropic and a lesser negative inotropic action. Beta-adrenergic blocking drugs are now widely used in clinical cardiology. In addition to beta-adrenergic blockade, however, un-desirable effects such as myocardial depression may occur (Nakano and Kusakari, I966; Blinks, I967). Sotalol (M.J., i999)l has been reported to be a beta-adrenergic blocking agent devoid of significant myocardial de