title: Editorial commentary on fixed combination isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine for nitric-oxide-enhancing therapy in heart failure.
abstract: Systolic heart failure is a condition that exerts a devastating toll on those affected. Therefore, treatments that improve heart failure outcomes incrementally, over and above the currently best available treatments are desperately needed. The fixed-dose combination of isosorbide dintrate-hydralazine provides unambiguous, incremental clinical benefits. However, isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine has the dubious distinction of being labeled as the first FDA-approved, ethnicity-specific drug. The hypothesis that isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine provides incremental benefit in non-African-Americans, as proven in the African-American Heart Failure Trial (AHEFT), has not yet been formally tested. Thus, the thesis that the positive AHEFT findings apply only to African-Americans should be rejected, until compelling evidence is available to support this rather implausible notion.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Flack
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D004338:Drug Combinations; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D006830:Hydralazine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007548:Isosorbide Dinitrate / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D020030:Nitric Oxide Donors / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D020030:Nitric Oxide Donors; C431665:isosorbide-hydralazine combination; D006830:Hydralazine; D007548:Isosorbide Dinitrate