Ivabradine, coronary artery disease, and heart failure: beyond rhythm control.
Pietro Scicchitano, Francesca Cortese, Gabriella Ricci, Santa Carbonara, Michele Moncelli, Massimo Iacoviello, Annagrazia Cecere, Michele Gesualdo, Annapaola Zito, Pasquale Caldarola, Domenico Scrutinio, Rocco Lagioia, Graziano Riccioni, Marco Matteo Ciccone
Author Information
Pietro Scicchitano: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
Francesca Cortese: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
Gabriella Ricci: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
Santa Carbonara: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
Michele Moncelli: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
Massimo Iacoviello: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
Annagrazia Cecere: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
Michele Gesualdo: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
Annapaola Zito: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
Pasquale Caldarola: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Policlinic, San Paolo Hospital, Bari, Italy.
Graziano Riccioni: Intensive Cardiology Care Unit, San Camillo de Lellis Hospital, Manfredonia, Foggia, Italy.
Marco Matteo Ciccone: Section of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Policlinico, Bari, Italy.
Elevated heart rate could negatively influence cardiovascular risk in the general population. It can induce and promote the atherosclerotic process by means of several mechanisms involving endothelial shear stress and biochemical activities. Furthermore, elevated heart rate can directly increase heart ischemic conditions because of its skill in unbalancing demand/supply of oxygen and decreasing the diastolic period. Thus, many pharmacological treatments have been proposed in order to reduce heart rate and ameliorate the cardiovascular risk profile of individuals, especially those suffering from coronary artery diseases (CAD) and chronic heart failure (CHF). Ivabradine is the first pure heart rate reductive drug approved and currently used in humans, created in order to selectively reduce sinus node function and to overcome the many side effects of similar pharmacological tools (ie, β-blockers or calcium channel antagonists). The aim of our review is to evaluate the role and the safety of this molecule on CAD and CHF therapeutic strategies.