Comparative effectiveness of Di'ao Xin Xue Kang capsule and Compound Danshen tablet in patients with symptomatic...

A high proportion of patients with stable angina remains symptomatic despite multiple treatment options. Di'ao Xinxuekang (XXK) capsule and Compound Danshen (CDS) tablet have been approved for treating angina pectoris for more than 20 years in China. We compare the anti-anginal effectiveness of XXK capsule and CDS tablet in patients with symptomatic chronic stable angina. A randomized, multicenter, double-blind, parallel-group, superiority trial was conducted in 4 study sites. 733 patients with symptomatic chronic stable angina were included in the full analysis set. The primary outcomes were the proportion of patients who were angina-free and the proportion of patients with normal electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings during 20 weeks treatment. Compared with CDS, XXK significantly increased the proportion of angina-free patients, but no significant difference was noted in the proportion of patients with normal ECG recordings. Weekly angina frequency and nitroglycerin use were significantly reduced with XXK versus CDS at week 20. Moreover, XXK also improved the quality of life of angina patients as measured by the SAQ score and Xueyu Zheng (a type of TCM syndrome) score. We demonstrate that XXK capsule is more effective for attenuating anginal symptoms and improving quality of life in patients with symptomatic chronic stable angina, compared with CDS tablet.