Trimetazidine May Have Potential As A Heart-Failure Treatment.

HeartWire  (3/7, Stiles) reports, "An old antianginal drug, the fatty-acid-oxidation inhibitor trimetazidine, may have potential as a heart-failure treatment, according to a meta-analysis that concluded that the drug improved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), functional capacity, and ventricular dimensions in 884 HF patients across 16 randomized trials." The analysis, however, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found "no sign of a survival benefit." The drug, "on average...seemed to improve LVEF by 6.46 points (p<0.0001), total exercise time by 64 seconds (p<0.0001), NYHA functional class by 0.57% (p=0.0003), LV end-systolic diameter by 6.67 mm (p<0.0001), LV end-diastolic diameter by 6.05 mm (p<0.0001), and B-type natriuretic-peptide (BNP) levels by 203.40 pg/mL (p=0.0002)."