Although paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) may not be a common household name, it is experienced by five hundred Americans with over fifty thousand patients visiting hospitals for treatment in the U.S in a given year.
According to a recent article in Medicine Net, current treatment consists of adenosine or beta blockers administered intravenously in either a hospital or in other monitored settings.
Bruce Stambler M.D. is an electrophysiologist at Atlanta’s Piedmont Institute and the lead author of the study investigating Etripamil to treat PSVT. The drug is a novel therapy that would allow patients to self-administer their treatment from any location without being hospitalized.
About the Phase II Study (NCT04952610)
Over one hundred US and Canadian patients participated in the trial. The researchers reported that within fifteen minutes eighty-seven percent of the group had their heart rate under control compared to thirty-five percent of patients given a placebo. The eighty-seven patients each received a seventy-milligram dose of Etripamil nasal spray.
Temporary side effects included nasal congestion or irritation. The study was presented at the Annual Heart Rhythm Society’s meeting that took place in Chicago.
Dr. Apoor Patel also an electrophysiologist at Manhasset’s Bass Heart facility in New York explained to HealthDay News that an abnormal heart rhythm might increase heartrate to 150 to 200 beats per minute. Dr. Patel said that although there is more work to do by studying the drug in a real-world setting, he finds the initial test results to be very encouraging.
Note that until the study is published in a medical journal research that is presented at meetings should be categorized as preliminary.
The study presents an experimental spray that has thus far never been in use. The nasal spray has the potential to change standard treatment for paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.
