The Role of Landiolol in Coronary Artery Disease: Insights into Acute Coronary Syndromes, Stable Coronary Artery Disease and Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography

TL;DR

This paper reviews the role of landiolol, a fast-acting beta blocker, in improving diagnostic imaging and treatment outcomes for coronary artery disease.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive review of landiolol's pharmacological properties and its potential in acute and chronic coronary artery disease settings.

Findings

Landiolol has ultra-short duration of action and high β1-receptor specificity, making it suitable for clinical use.

Landiolol improves diagnostic imaging quality by maintaining low heart rates in coronary computed tomography angiography.

It shows promise in both acute and chronic coronary artery disease settings, though more research is needed.

Abstract

Coronary artery disease (CAD) constitutes a major contributor to morbidity, mortality and healthcare burden worldwide. Recent innovations in imaging modalities, pharmaceuticals and interventional techniques have revolutionized diagnostic and treatment options, necessitating the reevaluation of established drug protocols or the consideration of newer alternatives. The utilization of beta blockers (BBs) in the setting of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), shifting from the pre-reperfusion to the thrombolytic and finally the primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) era, has become increasingly more selective and contentious. Nonetheless, the extent of myocardial necrosis remains a key predictor of outcomes in this patient population, with large trials establishing the beneficial use of beta blockers. Computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) has emerged as a highly effective diagnostic tool for delineating the coronary anatomy and atheromatous plaque characteristics, with the added capability of MESH-3D model generation. Induction and preservation of a low heart rate (HR), regardless of the underlying sequence, is of critical importance for high-quality results. Landiolol is an intravenous beta blocker with an ultra-short duration of action (t1/2 = 4 min) and remarkable β1-receptor specificity (β1/β2 = 255) and pharmacokinetics that support its potential for systematic integration into clinical practice. It has been increasingly recognized for its importance in both acute (primarily studied in STEMI and, to a lesser extent, NSTEMI pPCI) and chronic (mainly studied in elective PCI) CAD settings. Given the limited literature focusing specifically on landiolol, the aim of this narrative review is to examine its pharmacological properties and evaluate its current and future role in enhancing both diagnostic imaging quality and therapeutic outcomes in patients with CAD.

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