Calcium Blockers In HF: V-HeFT III & DEFIANT II

Preliminary results of the third Vasodilator-Heart Failure Trial (V-HeFT-III) have been presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Amsterdam on August 23, and reveal that Astra's Plendil (felodipine) does not adversely affect survival when used in patients seriously ill with congestive heart failure. However, it should be noted that the study was not powered to give a definitive answer on mortality.

The overall goal of V-HeFT-III was to determine if felodipine, a vasoselective calcium channel blocker, is a safe and effective vasodilator for use in heart failure patients already treated with an ACE inhibitor. The study evaluated the long-term effects of felodipine in patients already treated with diuretics and enalapril, with or without digoxin.

Jay Cohn, the director of the study and professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota, USA, said that felodipine was selected as the vasodilator in V-HeFT-III because of its convenient once-daily dosage regimen, no concern with tolerance, low incidence of headache and possible beneficial effects on neurohumoral activation (ie suppression of the activation of the renin-angiotensin and adrenergic systems). The drug is a newer member of the dihydropyridine class which selectively exerts its action in vascular smooth muscle without affecting cardiac function.