title: Calcium antagonists in patients with left ventricular dysfunction: back on the bridge?
abstract: Calcium antagonists have a useful role in the management of patients with cardiac disease, producing coronary and systemic vasodilatation and an additional possibly beneficial effect on ventricular diastolic function. On the other hand, the myocardial depressant effect of the first-generation drugs and the abrupt changes in blood pressure, with neurohormonal activation, have been associated with worsening heart failure in certain patients. The present review summarizes the data currently available, with emphasis on the newer slow-release and long-acting calcium antagonists. Use of these drugs minimizes the peak and trough effect associated with short-acting preparations, and particularly when administered against a background of digoxin, diuretic and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, may be associated with better long-term results in patients with ventricular dysfunction. The DEFIANT studies, using nisoldipine-coat core, showed that nisoldipine-CC improved diastolic ventricular function and had a significant anti-ischemic effect in patients with mild-moderate ventricular dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction. The VHeFT III trial showed that felodipine had no effect on exercise capacity or survival in patients with Class 2-3 heart failure. In the PRAISE study of Class 3-4 patients, amlodipine was neutral in patients with ischemic disease, but a strikingly beneficial effect was observed in non-ischemic heart failure (45% decrease in mortality). The precise mechanism for the beneficial effect of amlodipine in these patients is unknown. Further studies are needed to examine the issue of survival benefit in patients with non-ischemic heart failure and the mechanisms involved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Lewis
mesh_terms: D017311:Amlodipine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015736:Felodipine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D017311:Amlodipine; D015736:Felodipine