Unregistered User If this is not your name, click here.
		Contact Us | Order Now | Journals | Bookstore | Register a colleague
	Select a ChannelAcneAIDS and HIVAllergy OtherAlzheimer'sAnaesthesiology OtherAngina Pectoris/MIAnxietyArthritis OtherAsthmaBack PainBacterial InfectionsBladder CancerBone Marrow TransplantationBreast CancerCardiology OtherCataractCell TransplantationCervical CancerCholesterol/Lipid disordersCirrhosisClinical PharmacologyColorectal CancerCongestive Heart FailureContact DermatitisContraceptionCOPDCystic FibrosisDental and Oral DisordersDepressionDermatology OtherDiabetesDialysisEating DisordersElbowEmergency MedicineEndocrinology OtherEpilepsyErectile DysfunctionFibromyalgiaGastro OtherGeneticsGenitourinary OtherGeriatricsGERD/GastritisGlaucomaH. Pylori/UlcerHaematology OtherHair LossHeadachesHepa/Biliary OtherHepatitisHipHRTHypertensionIBDImmunologyInfectious OtherInfertilityIntensive CareIrritable Bowel SyndromeKneeLeukemiasLiver CancerLung CancerLupusLymphomasMelanomaMenopauseMultiple Sclerosis Nephrology OtherNeurologic OtherNutritional / Metabolic OtherOb/Gyn OtherObesityOncology OtherOphth. OtherOphthalmic SurgeryOrgan TransplantationOrthopaedics OtherOsteoarthritisOsteoporosisOtitisOtorhino. OtherOvarian CancerPaediatricsPainPancreatic CancerParkinson'sPregnancyProstate CancerPsychiatry OtherPulmonary OtherRadiologyRenal CancerRenal FailureRespiratory InfectionsRheumatoid arthritisRheumatology OtherRhinitisSchizophreniaShoulderSleep ApnoeaSleep DisordersSpineStrokeSTDsSurgeryThyroid DisordersTransfusionTransplant Surgery OtherTraumaUrinary IncontinenceUrinary tract infectionsVaccinologyVascular DisordersViral Infections

SEARCH   News Bookstore Medline The Web Meetings & Congresses Complete Doctor's Guide    EXPLORE :    All News   All Webcasts   All Cases   All Meetings & Congresses   All Medical Resources New drugs / indications English Dictionary Medical Dictionary Thesaurus Warning | Privacy | Awards  Favourite Journals  Click here to choose your favourite journals  Favourite Sites  Click here to choose your favourite sites  Languages  Select languageEnglishFrançais

AHA SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS: Norvasc Slows Hardening Of Arteries In Some Key Arteries, But Not Others WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- Nov. 11, 1998 -- A large clinical trial on whether a major calcium channel blocker could slow hardening of the arteries and thus reduce heart disease and stroke produced mixed results, a research team reported today at the American Heart Association meeting. The research team -- headed by Curt Furberg, M.D., Ph.D. of Wake Forest and Bertram Pitt, M.D. of the University of Michigan -- reported that Norvasc (amlodipine) had no significant effect in preventing new coronary artery atherosclerosis -- hardening of the arteries -- or on the progression of pre-existing coronary artery atherosclerosis. However, it appeared to slow progression of atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries in the neck. The coronary arteries supply blood to the heart, and a blocked coronary artery can lead to a heart attack. The carotid arteries provide blood to the brain and a blocked carotid can lead to stroke. There was no difference in the overall mortality, in rate of heart attack or stroke, or in major vascular events between patients on amlodipine and those on an inert placebo -- which was consistent with a lack of effect on the coronary arteries, said Robert Byington, Ph.D., associate professor of public health sciences and head of the section on epidemiology at Wake Forest, who headed the study's national data co-ordinating centre. However, Pitt added that Norvasc significantly reduced the incidence of angina pectoris, severe chest pain that results from lack of oxygen to heart muscles. "This reduction in angina is a known symptomatic effect of amlodipine," Furberg said. This reduction in symptoms led to fewer procedures to relieve angina, such as coronary artery bypass surgery. Because of that finding, amlodipine may have an important role in the management of symptoms of patients with coronary artery lesions by deferring the need for bypass surgery or angioplasty, he said. The study, which was called PREVENT (prospective randomised evaluation of the vascular effects of Norvasc trial) involved 825 patients at 16 clinical centres in the United States and Canada who had coronary artery disease documented through heart catheterisation. To be part of the trial, at least one coronary artery had to have less than 30 percent blockage. The patients were randomised to amlodipine or placebo and followed for three years. At the end of the three years, the patients had a second heart catheterisation. The investigators had hoped to show that regular administration of amlodipine over three years would reduce the progress of atherosclerosis in segments of the coronary arteries with less than 30 percent blockage, as measured by heart catheterisation (also known as angiography). However, amlodipine appeared to slow the progression of carotid artery atherosclerosis, as measured by ultrasound. That study involved 376 of the 825 patients. These participants had an ultrasound exam at baseline and then every six months. The differences between those who got amlodipine and those who got placebo, as measured by ultrasound, were highly significant in the common carotid artery, the major carotid artery. Byington noted that the heart catheterisation and the ultrasonography were really measuring different things. The heart catheterisation measures the size of the inside of the artery, which doctors call the lumen, whereas the ultrasound measures thickening of the arterial wall, which may or may not be accompanied by compensating enlargement (dilation) of the artery. "There was no difference, angiographically, between placebo and amlodipine, but there was a difference in ultrasound," Byington said. The investigators found the results somewhat surprising, since two other studies of calcium channel blockers -- involving nifedipine and nicardipine, had suggested an effect. Nifedipine was reported to reduce the formation of new atherosclerosis lesions, while nicardipine reduced the progression of atherosclerosis in lesions that already had begun. There were no major safety concerns linked to use of amlodipine. Related Links: Norvasc E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version