Calcium channel antagonism and beta blockade in combination--a therapeutic alternative in cardiovascular disorders. A review.

Calcium-channel antagonists and beta-adrenergic blocking agents have become important modalities in the cardiovascular therapeutic armamentarium. These drugs are often administered as monotherapy to a wide range of cardiological patients with angina pectoris, hypertension, arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, and other diseases. Since within each class these drugs exhibit pharmacologic differences, it follows that their effectiveness varies in different disease states and that they exhibit a wide variety of side effects. In an attempt to optimize therapy, the individual drugs from these two classes can be combined; and the efficaciousness and side-effect profile of various combinations between calcium-channel antagonists and beta blockers are discussed in this review. Recommendations as to which patients may benefit from a combination and as to which patients may be harmed by the combination therapy will be made. Very few studies have compared the safety and efficacy of a single agent with the combination and with placebo in a controlled randomized fashion. To determine which therapy is superior and to determine which combination one should recommend under what circumstances, such placebo-controlled, randomized trials are a necessity, and will hopefully be performed although the complexity is enormous.