Combination Therapy of Inhaled Indacaterol/Glycopyrronium for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in the Very Elderly: Is It Safe? An Electrocardiographic Evaluation

Cardiovascular (CV) comorbidities in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, especially in old and very old subjects. The question if long-acting beta-agonist and long-acting muscarinic antagonist could be associated with the increased prevalence of CV-related adverse effects has puzzled, particularly in the past, specialists involved in the management of respiratory diseases. The safety of these compounds has scarcely been tested in patients aged >= 65 years with CV comorbidities, since randomized controlled trials rarely include this subpopulation. However, the fixed combination indacaterol/glycopyrronium has shown a favorable CV safety profile in both healthy volunteers and COPD patients. Thus, we aimed to assess the CV safety pro-file of the fixed combination indacaterol/glycopyrronium 110/50 mu g in a series of COPD patients aged >= 80 years with several comorbidities. Our results indicate that this combination is safe in the comorbid elderly, since no significant electrocardiographic abnormalities were recorded after the administration of the inhaled therapy. Only rare and non-clinically significant changes in heart rate and corrected QT interval duration were evident, mainly in females and in patients with concomitant impaired kidney function. (C) 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel