bretylium

[ bruh-til-ee-uhm ]

noun

, Pharmacology.

1. a substance, C 18 H 24 BrNO 3 S, used to treat acute ventricular arrhythmias and suppress ventricular fibrillation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bretylium¹

Presumably br(omobenzyl) + (dim)et(h)yl(ammon)ium, two of its chemical components

Example Sentences

Hoping to reduce the risk of either reaction, the Walter Reed doctors first tried a British drug, bretylium tosylate, which blocks the action on the heart of noradrenaline, a stimulating hormone in the adrenaline group.

From Time Magazine Archive