Ivabradine - treatment for individuals with angina, stable angina

Heart Disease :: Ivabradine - treatment for individuals with angina, stable angina

Heart rate reduction is the cornerstone of the treatment of angina. To date, β-blockers have been the best drugs with which to achieve this. Heart rate is set by the pacemaker cells in the sinus node. Specific cardiac ion channels, f-channels, have been identified that control the rate at which these pacemaker cells initiate cardiac contraction. A selective and specific f-channel (f) current inhibitor, ivabradine, has now been developed that reduces heart rate to a degree similar to that achieved with β-blockers, but without their side effects. Ivabradine is now available for clinical use and promises to be a major and exciting treatment for individuals with angina.

"New drugs for angina are rare indeed. A drug as good as a β-blocker but with fewer side effects will, I believe, rapidly become a powerful ally in our scant resource of antianginal drugs. Ivabradine is now available and will be welcomed by patients and their physicians in the journey of care through coronary heart disease" Adrian J.B. Brady, Department of Medical Cardiology, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, UK.