Korean Circ J.  1982 Jun;12(1):161-167. 10.4070/kcj.1982.12.1.161.

Clinical Effect of Diltiazem Hydrochloride(Herben(R)) on Angina Pectoris

• Suh SK
• Park KS
• Kang KH

• KMID: 2040209
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.1982.12.1.161

Abstract

The Diltiazem hydrochloride is a new calcium antagonist of which effect on angina pectoris has been reported. Authors studied the clinical effect of Diltiazem in 18 cases of angina pectoris including stable and unstable angina. The 14 cases were male and 4 cases were female with ages ranging 46 to 72 years. All cases had typical anginal attack on 1-6 times in everyday with transient improvement by sublingual nitroglycerin. After coutine physical and laboratory work-up, Diltiazem 30mg tablet was given 3 times a day for 3 consecutive weeks and checked the response of angical pain for first 3 times visit with 3 days interval and thereafter with one week interval. In 13 cases of 15 cases, the Diltiazem alone was medicated. There was considerable improvement of anginal attack in 13 cases of 15 cases with Diltiazem alone, namely complete subsidence of anginal attack throughout 3 weeks in 2 cases, only minimal substernal discomfort on effort once a week in 4 cases and in 7 cases the frequency and severity of anginal pain reduced to about 50% of control state. In 2 of 15 cases there were no effect on anginal pain until one week, subsequently a beta-blocker was added and the anginal attack improved considerably in both cases. In 3 cases of 18 cases, the anginal attacks were so severe and frequent that the Diltiazem with beta-blocker were given from the beginning. In one case the anginal pain disappeared completely and in two cases there were good effect. The effect of Diltiazem usually started to occurs in 3 days to one week after medication. The overall effectiveness of Diltiazem in angina pectoris was 87% with excellent effect in 40%, good effect in 27% and fair effect in 20%. In 5 cases of good response to Diltiazem, the stress exercise test by bicycle ergometer was carried out before and after one week medication with programs of 30 wt, 50 wt, 75 wt, and 100 wt loading for 4 minutes in each stage. The exercise tolerance improved about 25-50 wt, the ST depression by exercise became less by 1-2mm and the maximal heart rate increased by 4-9/min. These data showed marked improvement of exercise tolerance in angina pectoris by Dltiazem objectively. There were macular skin rash, diarrhea and mild dizziness in one case respectively which were improved without treatment. These data showed that Diltiazem was highly effective in angina pectoris except few very severe cases. In severe cases, the combined therapy of Diltiazem and beta-blocker was more effective.

MeSH Terms

Angina Pectoris*
Angina, Unstable
Calcium
Depression
Diarrhea
Diltiazem*
Dizziness
Exanthema
Exercise Test
Exercise Tolerance
Female
Heart Rate
Humans
Male
Nitroglycerin
Calcium
Diltiazem
Nitroglycerin