Effects of oral isradipine on left ventricular function at rest and during exercise in patients with stable chronic angina: a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study.

We evaluated the effects of a single oral dose of 5 mg of isradipine compared to placebo in a randomized, double-blind, crossover study using gated radionuclide angiography at rest and during exercise in 20 patients with stable chronic angina. Isradipine improved both anginal symptomatology and ST-segment depression during exercise, with a concomitant favorable effect on the isotopic parameters exploring systolic and diastolic left ventricular function. There was a marked increase of the ejection fraction during exercise with isradipine compared to placebo (61 +/- 14% vs. 55 +/- 15%, respectively, p less than 0.001) as well as a significant improvement in the peak ejection rate and the peak filling rate at rest [2.56 +/- 0.62 vs. 2.16 +/- 0.54 end diastolic volume (EDV) per second and 2.14 +/- 0.59 vs. 1.87 +/- 0.37 EDV/s, respectively] and during exercise (3.49 +/- 0.97 vs. 3.10 +/- 1.07 EDV/s and 4.05 +/- 1.34 vs. 3.65 +/- 1.25 EDV/s, respectively). We conclude that isradipine has a beneficial effect on the clinical and electrocardiographic signs of exercise-induced ischemia, leading to a significant improvement of the systolic and diastolic parameters of left ventricular function. Therefore, isradipine is potentially a useful treatment for patients with exertional angina and hypertension, alone or associated with beta blocker medication.