Effectiveness of point-of-care oral ivabradine for cardiac computed tomography

Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) is increasing seen as a first line investigation in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. Heart-rate control improves the image quality and diagnostic accuracy of CCTA. Typically, beta-blockers are administered to induce sinus bradycardia. Sinus bradycardia may also be induced by ivabradine. We hypothesized that in a real-world population ivabradine would be an effective alternative to metoprolol at heart rate lowering for CCTA.

This was a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients who were exposed to an ivabradine-based (IB) versus a metoprolol-only (MO) protocol to achieve a target heart rate

5955 consecutive patients were included in the analysis: 3211 were imaged during an era of a metoprolol only strategy (MO) and 2744 CCTA following an ivabradine based (IB) strategy. 2676 patients had heart rates >65 and received heart-rate lowering medication: 1958 patients had MO, and 718 received IB protocol. Target heart rate of

Introduction of a novel single dose ivabradine-based protocol to control heart rate for CCTA was more successful in achieving target heart rate than a metoprolol-only strategy. The use of ivabradine however incurred a 1.6-fold increase in the time delay from medication administration and imaging compared to a metoprolol only protocol.