Ranolazine for the treatment of chronic angina and potential use in other cardiovascular conditions.

Chronic angina, a condition that impairs quality of life and is associated with decreased life expectancy, affects 6.4 million Americans.1 Current therapies that reduce angina frequency and nitrate consumption and increase the threshold at which demand-induced myocardial ischemic symptoms become evident include drugs (nitrates, -blockers, calcium antagonists), exercise conditioning, enhanced external counterpulsation, and coronary revascularization.1–3 Several new investigational drugs are being tested for the treatment of chronic angina.4–9 This review will focus on sustained-release ranolazine, a drug that reduces angina symptoms, with a mechanism of action different from that of currently available pharmacological therapies.8–29 Ranolazine was approved on January 27, 2006, in the United States for use in patients with chronic angina who continue to be symptomatic on -blockers, calcium antagonists, or nitrates.