Auricchio A. Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Rome, Tor Vergata, European Hospital, Italy. Am Heart J 1992 Oct;124(4):932-7. In 34 patients with a symptomatic accessory atrioventricular connection the reversible protective effect of orally administered flecainide (300 mg/day) and of propafenone (900 mg/day) in control of ventricular response during atrial fibrillation by exercise was assessed. The study consisted of three sections of 1 week each: an initial treatment phase during which propafenone or flecainide was administered, a drug-free phase, and a period of crossover to treatment with the other drug. At the end of each phase, transesophageal stimulation was performed during physical exercise to induce atrial fibrillation episodes: the goal was to control the persistence of drug effectiveness. At rest, the mean and shortest R-R interval during the period of induced atrial fibrillation in patients who were treated with flecainide or propafenone increased significantly as compared with the drug-free period. On the other hand, at maximum exercise levels no difference in both shortest and mean R-R intervals during atrial fibrillation was observed between patients who were treated with flecainide and those who were treated with propafenone, as well as between flecainide treatment and the drug-free period, whereas a slightly significant difference persisted with propafenone treatment (p < 0.05). In addition, at maximum exercise levels no significant difference in the number of preexcited QRS complexes among the three treatments was noted. The data from this study suggests that a reversible protective effect against rapid ventricular rate as the result of an episode of atrial fibrillation exists during exercise in patients with a symptomatic accessory atrioventricular connection who are treated with flecainide or propafenone.