[Calcium antagonists for the treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon]

The effectiveness of a new, nifedipine-like calcium antagonist (Bay K 9320) on the severity and frequency of episodic digital vasospasms was studied in a randomized double-blind trial of 24 patients (10 women, 14 men) with Raynaud's phenomenon. During the winter months the patients took one tablet three times daily for three weeks, each tablet either containing 20 mg of the calcium antagonist or a placebo. Three patients had collagen disease, 21 a primary form of Raynaud's phenomenon. Subjective improvement was reported by nine of twelve patients receiving the drug, while no improvement occurred in nine patients on the placebo. Light-plethysmography demonstrated under calcium antagonist treatment a reduction in the cold-provoked acral blood flow decrease more than four-fold compared with the unchanged value in the placebo group.