Severe cardiotoxicity: Ivabradine as an alternative treatment?

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is a therapeutic method that holds the potential to cure hematological disorders. However, there can be severe complications, including cardiotoxicity. This can occur due to cytotoxic agents or inflammatory mediators which cause tissue damage or infections. Another cause can be sepsis. Yanagiya R et al.’s paper discusses an example of severe cardiotoxicity, resistant to the usual treatments of catecholamines and diuretics. Ivabradine, a hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channel blocker, was used successfully to treat the cardiotoxicity. Therefore, there is potential within using this as an alternative therapeutic treatment for severe cardiotoxicity.

This review by Yanagiya R et al. aimed to highlight the novel understanding around this alternative drug, Ivabradine, which may hold potential in aiding with the treatment of cardiotoxicity.

Key learnings:

Further research is required into the full potential of using Ivabradine for treating cardiotoxicity, to allow clinicians to put forward the best possible treatment for their patients.