[A comparative study of celiprolol and nicardipine in stable angina of effort]

Seventeen patients with effort angina, a positive exercise test and at least one stenosed vessel in coronary angiography were studied. Following a crossover blind-design, each patient received at random either 400 mg/day oral celiprolol or 120 mg/day oral nicardipine. A treadmill exercise test and 24 hour Holter monitoring were accomplished at the end of each treatment period. Both drugs significantly prolonged exercise time and reduced maximum ST segment depression at similar stages of control testing. Nicardipine reduced resting diastolic blood pressure a mean of 18 mm Hg (p less than 0.005) and also systolic blood-pressure 11 mm Hg (p less than 0.005) while celiprolol only reduced systolic pressure 10 mm Hg (p less than 0.01). Resting heart-rate was lowered by celiprolol a mean of 9 beats/min (p less than 0.0001) while nicardipine slightly increased it. The double product at maximum effort decreased with celiprolol and increased with nicardipine. Six patients with 3 vessel disease continued having transient ischemic episodes during treatment with celiprolol and 5 had them with nicardipine. Both drugs were well tolerated by the patients. In conclusion celiprolol and nicardipine proved to be effective in the treatment of myocardial ischemia specially when coronary heart disease is not very advanced.