Objective: Two comprehensively designed mono-centric ECG studies were performed to investigate the influence of propiverine hydrochloride and its main metabolite propiverine-N-oxide on cardiac function with regard to QTc prolongation, QTc dispersion and T-wave shape.
Methods: The first study was conducted on 24 healthy females, followed by a second study on 24 male patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and a pathological Pardee-Q-wave in the ECG. Both studies were placebo-controlled and compared the effects of single (30 mg s.i.d.) and multiple dosing (15 mg t.i.d.) of propiverine hydrochloride in a crossover design over 6 and 13 days, respectively. In CHD patients, the ECG was recorded under standardized exercise stress conditions.
Results: An effect of propiverine on cardiac safety in healthy women and male patients with CHD could not be determined by the evaluation of QTc intervals derived from ECG under the following conditions: (1) single dosage; (2) steady-state and elevated dosage; (3) healthy female volunteers and male CHD patients; (4) resting and stress conditions in CHD patients. Moreover, other ECG parameters like QT dispersion, T-wave shape, and U-wave occurrence were not affected by propiverine compared to placebo after single or repeated dosing to reach steady-state conditions.
Conclusion: These results reflect and confirm preclinical data as well as clinical observations on hundreds of volunteers and numberless patients suffering from overactive bladder syndrome and neurogenic detrusor overactivity who were treated with propiverine hydrochloride over nearly three decades in Europe and Japan.