Are calcium inhibitors useful in the treatment of effort angina pectoris

: Effort angina is the result of acute myocardial ischemia on exercise due to an imbalance between myocardial oxygen demand and supply. During exercise, ischemia is provoked by an increase in myocardial oxygen needs (tachycardia, increased blood pressure, etc.) which cannot be met by increased coronary blood flow. The commonest cause of insufficient flow is coronary atherosclerosis. Coronary spasm does, however, play a role, whether it occurs during exercise on normal or atheromatous coronary vessels. Classical anti-anginal therapy is directed towards a reduction in the intense adrenergic activity associated with exercise, and to the limitation of myocardial oxygen consumption. Calcium inhibitors which cause peripheral vasodilation, decrease ventricular wall tension and coronary resistance, are usually reserved for unstable or resistant angina. We studied 10 patients with stable effort angina for over 2 years with significant (greater than 70 per cent) atheromatous lesions on coronary angiography unsuitable for surgical treatment. The patients underwent a randomised double blind trial to compare the effects of propranolol, diltiazem and placebo. Exercise ECG was performed after a treatment period of one week, 3 hours after drug administration. The results showed a significant improvement of work capacity with propranolol and diltiazem as compared to placebo. Propranolol (160 mg/day) was more effective than diltiazem (180 mg/day) in 6 patients. In 4 cases, the improvement with diltiazem and propranolol was the same. The association of the two drugs in one open study in 5 patients was even more effective in 3 patients. The small number of patients studied makes it impossible to draw any firm conclusions. Although calcium inhibitors are the treatment of choice in coronary spasm and betablockers in effort angina, diltiazem exerts an anti-anginal effect by reduction of myocardial oxygen consumption without depression of myocardial contractility, as other workers have shown.