Hemodynamic effects of intravenous elgodipine in coronary artery disease during rest and exercise, and basic pharmacokinetic parameters.

Using an echo-Doppler method (Quantascope), the hemodynamic profile of the calcium channel antagonist elgodipine (64 micrograms/kg, i.v.) was investigated in 22 patients with angina pectoris at rest and during exercise. A placebo control was used. At rest, elgodipine significantly decreased systemic vascular resistance as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure, while increasing cardiac output and stroke volume. During supine bicycle exercise the constant workload, elgodipine significantly increased cardiac output and stroke volume, and decrease the rate-pressure-product (double product); the exercise systolic blood pressure was decreased without change in the diastolic component. Elgodipine significantly reduced the incidence and severity (self-rated pain score) of exercise-induced anginal systems. Heart rate was not affected by elgodipine, either at rest or during exercise. In particular, no negative inotropy could be inferred from the echo-Doppler data. In the elgodipine plasma concentration profile (HPLC), three phases of elimination with half-life times of less than 1 hour, between 3 and 7 hours, and between 10 and 24 hours may be distinguished, indicating a "shallow" and a "deep" compartment. The hemodynamic data indicate an intermediate pharmacodynamic profile of elgodipine, lying between that of other dihydropyridines and that od compounds such as verapamil or diltiazem.