VIENNA, Sept. 6 -- The anti-anginal drug ranolazine (Ranexa) may reduce episodes of ventricular tachycardia and supraventricular tachycardia, researchers reported here.
The potential benefit was detected in a pre-specified analysis of Holter monitor data from MERLIN-TIMI 36 -- a failed trial of ranolazine for treatment of acute coronary syndrome.
Yet the analysis showed that ranolazine reduced the number of ventricular tachycardia episodes by 37% (P<0.001) and reduced supraventricular tachycardia by 19% (P<0.001). Benjamin M. Scirica, M.D., M.P.H. of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, reported at the European Society of Cardiology meeting. The study was published online simultaneously in Circulation, Journal of the American Heart Association.
Dr. Scirica said the drug also tended to reduce occurrence of new onset atrial fibrillation by 27%, but that difference was not statistically significant (P=0.08).
