Effects of Ranolazine on Disease-Specific Health Status and Quality of Life Among Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes

Abstract

Background— Ranolazine has been shown to reduce myocardial ischemia and symptom severity among selected patients with chronic angina. However, data regarding the effect of ranolazine on health status/quality of life (QOL) are limited. Methods and Results— We performed a prospective QOL analysis alongside the Metabolic Efficiency with Ranolazine for Less Ischemia in Non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (MERLIN)-TIMI 36 trial, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of ranolazine in 6560 patients with non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes. Health status/QOL was evaluated at baseline and 4, 8, and 12 months after index hospitalization using the Seattle Angina Questionnaire, Rose dyspnea scale, SF-12, and EuroQol-5D. Health status/QOL scores improved significantly at all follow-up time points for both treatment arms. In the overall population, randomization to ranolazine was associated with minimal 12-month improvements in angina frequency and Seattle Angina Questionnaire-QOL ( P P P Conclusion— Among a broad population of patients with unstable coronary disease, ranolazine had a minimal effect on disease-specific health status and QOL over ≈12 months of follow-up. Posthoc subgroup analysis, however, suggested a modest benefit among the subgroup of patients with angina before their acute coronary syndromes event.