Abstract

One hundred and thirty-one male patients admitted to a coronary care unit with myocardial infarction, later confirmed, were randomly allocated to receive either 10 mg diazepam every six hours, or a matched placebo, for 48 hours. During this period, no differences were found between the treatment groups in the incidence of fatal or non-fatal tachyarrhythmias even when account was taken of differences in the severity of the initial infarct. Monitored blood pressure and heart rate data were comparable as were the patients' self-assessed anxiety levels and symptoms, except that drowsiness was more common in the patients treated with diazepam.