[Treatment of stress-induced and spontaneous myocardial ischemia in coronary disease patients with slow-release gallopamil--preliminary results of an open study].

We studied the effects of slow-release gallopamil two-times 100 mg on exercise-induced ST-segment depression, as well as on the incidence of spontaneous myocardial ischemia detected by long-term ECG monitoring for 48 h in patients with coronary artery disease and stable angina pectoris. Three out of nine patients included in this study had to be excluded (because of frequent ventricular extrasystoles, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and development of instable angina pectoris). In all of the remaining six patients, the substance led to a doubling of working capacity (watts X min) evaluated by bicycle ergometry, paralleled by an increase of exercise duration until the occurrence of ST-segment depression greater than or equal to 0.1 mV. The number of spontaneous episodes of myocardial ischemia during long-term ECG recording, ranging 1-13 during control, decreased in all patients, paralleled by a decrease of the mean duration of ischemic episodes. On the other hand, no significant negative chronotropic effect was observed. Therefore, these preliminary results of this open-study protocol confirm the antischemic effects of slow-release gallopamil given 100 mg two times daily; on the other hand these promising results need to be confirmed in a doubleblind, placebo-controlled trial.