Ivabradine

• Ivabradine works to reduce tachycardia by targeting the sinus node, and can be helpful for individuals in our community because it can allow for reductions in tachycardia without contributing towards drops in blood pressure (Howraa et al., 2012).

• Researchers have found that the use of this medication in individuals with POTS has continued to prove to be effective and safe; this being said, it may be harder for providers to prescribe in certain areas given limited approval for use (Tahir et al., 2020).

• This drug has received FDA-approval for “stable symptomatic heart failure (HF) and patients with an ejection fraction (EF) of ≤35%” and has been approved by the European Society as “a second-line therapy for patients whose angina has been poorly controlled by other medications, namely calcium-channel blockers (CCBs), beta-blockers, or nitrates (short-acting)” (Tahir et al., 2020).

Sources:

Howraa, A., Patrick A, B., & Le-Xin, W. (2012). Diagnosis and management of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: A brief review. Journal of Geriatric Cardiology, 9(1), 61–67. https://doi.org/10.3724/sp.j.1263.2012.00061

Tahir, F., Bin Arif, T., Majid, Z., Ahmed, J., & Khalid, M. (2020). Ivabradine in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: A review of the literature. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.7868