Pharmacology of myocardial calcium-handling.

Disturbed myocardial calcium (Ca(+)) handling is one of the pathophysiologic hallmarks of cardiovascular diseases such as congestive heart failure, cardiac hypertrophy, and certain types of tachyarrhythmias. Pharmacologic treatment of these diseases thus focuses on restoring myocardial Ca(2+) homeostasis by interacting with Ca(2+)-dependent signaling pathways. In this article, we review the currently used pharmacologic agents that are able to restore or maintain myocardial Ca(2+) homeostasis and their mechanism of action as well as emerging new substances.