Background: We compared the efficacy of once-daily treatment with nifedipine CR 40 mg (NR) and twice-daily treatment with benidipine 4 mg (BD) in patients with coronary spastic angina (CSA) registered in 3 cardiovascular institutes in Tokyo.
Methods and results: CSA was diagnosed by an ischemic ST change during Holter ECG monitoring or drug-induced test. Thirty patients were randomly allocated to either NR or BD group. The number of symptomatic attacks and the total frequency of short-acting nitrates were examined based on the data in diaries written by patients. There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between the two groups. The median number (25-75% quartile) of attacks per week was significantly decreased in NR group, i.e., 1.0 (0.8-2.0) at baseline, 0.0 (0.0-1.0) after 4 weeks of treatment, and 0.0 (0.0-0.0) after 8 weeks of treatment (P=0.0093, P=0.0002, Wilcoxon's rank-sum test). No significant decrease was observed in BD, i.e. 1.0 (0.5-2.0) at baseline, 1.3 (0.0-3.0) after 4 weeks, and 0.0 (0.0-1.0) after 8 weeks. The number of attacks was fewer in NR than in BD group (P=0.074, P=0.015, U-test for difference).
Conclusion: Once-daily treatment with NR 40 mg was more effective than twice-daily treatment with BD in the prevention of CSA attacks.
Copyright 2009 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.