Goto-Semba R, Fujii Y, Ueda T, Oshita C, Teragawa H. Increased frequency of angina attacks caused by switching a brand-name vasodilator to a generic vasodilator in patients with vasospastic angina: Two case reports. World J Cardiol 2018; 10(3): 15-20 [PMID: 29588810 DOI: 10.4330/wjc.v10.i3.15]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hiroki Teragawa, FACC, FACP, FAHA, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, JR Hiroshima Hospital, 3-1-36 Futabanosato, Higashi-ku, Hiroshima 732-0057, Japan. hiroteraga71@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Cardiol. Mar 26, 2018; 10(3): 15-20 Published online Mar 26, 2018. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v10.i3.15
Increased frequency of angina attacks caused by switching a brand-name vasodilator to a generic vasodilator in patients with vasospastic angina: Two case reports
Remi Goto-Semba, Department of Education and Training, JR Hiroshima Hospital, Hiroshima 732-0057, Japan
Yuichi Fujii, Tomohiro Ueda, Chikage Oshita, Hiroki Teragawa, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, JR Hiroshima Hospital, Hiroshima 732-0057, Japan
Author contributions: Goto-Semba R, Fujii Y, Ueda T and Oshita C contributed to the acquisition of data; Goto-Semba R and Teragawa H contributed to writing; Teragawa H revised the manuscript.
Informed consent statement: The patients involved in this study gave their written informed consent authorizing use and disclosure of their protected health information.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have any conflict of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Hiroki Teragawa, FACC, FACP, FAHA, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, JR Hiroshima Hospital, 3-1-36 Futabanosato, Higashi-ku, Hiroshima 732-0057, Japan. hiroteraga71@gmail.com
Telephone: +81-82-2621171 Fax: +81-82-2621499
Received: November 24, 2017 Peer-review started: November 24, 2017 First decision: December 27, 2017 Revised: January 12, 2018 Accepted: February 6, 2018 Article in press: February 6, 2018 Published online: March 26, 2018 Processing time: 119 Days and 3 Hours
Abstract
It is well known that calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are the first line of therapy for vasospastic angina (VSA). Here, we report two cases of VSA with an increase in the frequency of angina attacks after switching from a brand-name to a generic CCB. In both cases, angina recurred upon switching from a brand-name CCB to a generic CCB during follow-up. The patients’ condition improved upon switching back to the original CCB. Both cases involved a high severity of VSA, based on the results of spasm provocation testing. These findings suggest that, in some patients with severe VSA, the frequency of angina attacks increases when switching from a brand-name CCB to a generic CCB. Cardiologists should consider this factor when prescribing drugs for angina.
Core tip: Calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) are the first line of therapy for vasospastic angina (VSA). Here, we report two cases of VSA with an increase in the frequency of angina attacks after switching from a brand-name to a generic CCB. Switching back to the original CCB improved the patients’ condition in both cases. Both cases involved highly severe VSA. It is important for cardiologists to check whether VSA patients who have refractory angina attacks while taking a CCB are taking a brand-name or generic CCB.
