• Pawel Ptaszynski, Krzysztof Kaczmarek, Jan Ruta, Thomas Klingenheben, Iwona Cygankiewicz, and Jerzy K Wranicz.
• Department of Electrocardiology, Medical University, Lodz, Poland. pawel_ptaszynski@wp.pl
• J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol. Ther. 2013 Jul 1; 18 (4): 338-44.

BackgroundInappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST) is a clinical syndrome characterized by excessive resting heart rate (HR) or a disproportional increase in HR during exercise. β-blocker or calcium channel-blocker therapy is often noneffective or not well tolerated. The HR reduction on ivabradine is similar to β-blockers but in some patients its efficacy to resolve all IST-related symptoms is limited. The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy and safety of combining ivabradine with metoprolol succinate in patients with refractory highly symptomatic IST.MethodsTwenty patients (36 ± 10 years; 16 women) with IST were enrolled. All patients received metoprolol succinate 95 mg single dose during the first month of the study. After 4 weeks of treatment with metoprolol, ivabradine was administered as adjuvant therapy up to 7.5 mg twice daily. Holter monitoring and treadmill stress test were performed at baseline, after 4, and 8 weeks of the study, respectively.ResultsWe observed significant and similar reduction in resting HR both for metoprolol and for combined therapy compared to the baseline. The mean HR during daily activity was significantly lower on ivabradine and metoprolol compared to monotherapy with β-blocker. The combined treatment yielded a significant increase in exercise capacity as assessed by treadmill stress test. After 4 weeks of combined therapy a significant reduction in IST-related symptoms, measured by means of the European Heart Rhythm Association score, was observed.ConclusionCombining ivabradine with metoprolol is an effective and well-tolerated treatment option for IST in patients with refractory to monotherapy.

31 keywords...

hide…