Dysautonomia International is pleased to partner with patientINFORM to provide free access to the the following journal article.
Ivabradine in the treatment of postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a single center experience.
Ruzieh, M., Sirianni, N., Ammari, Z., Dasa, O., Alhazmi, L., Karabin, B. and Grubb, B. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. Accepted Author Manuscript. E-pub before print: https://doi.org/10.1111/pace.13182.
Full Journal Article
Article Summary for Patients & Caregivers:
This is the first study to examine ivabradine in POTS patients while simultaneously documenting subjective and objective data.
Ivabradine is a selective funny channel blocker that decreases heart rate without affecting other cardiovascular functions, and it has been shown to improve symptoms in patients with POTS.
The patients in this study discontinued other heart rate controlling medications such as beta and calcium channel blockers before initiating ivabradine. Out of 49 POTS patients who were prescribed ivabradine, 38 (78%) reported overall improvement in their POTS symptoms. The most commonly reported side effects were luminous phenomena/visual brightness in nine patients and nausea in four patients (which is a known side effect of ivabradine because there are funny channel receptors in the retina of the eye), but none of the patients stopped the medication due to side effects.
Given the above findings, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial is warranted.
Please note, many US patients find it difficult to obtain insurance coverage for ivabradine, so some patients have resorted to obtaining the drug from other countries with physician oversight. Currently, ivabradine is only approved for heart failure in the United States.
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