Comparison of the Transdermal Bisoprolol Patch with Oral Bisoprolol Fumarate Administration as a Therapeutic Agent for Idiopathic Frequent Premature Ventricular Contractions

The transdermal bisoprolol patch (TB) was designed to maintain a sustained concentration of bisoprolol in plasma by a higher trough concentration than oral bisoporolol (OB). We compared the efficacy between TB and OB in patients with idiopathic premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) while considering their duration of action.A total of 78 patients with a PVC count of ≥ 3,000 beats/24 hours were divided into groups treated with TB 4 mg (n = 43) or OB 2.5 mg (n = 35). PVCs were divided into positive heart rate (HR) -dependent PVCs (P-PVCs) and non-positive HR-dependent PVCs (NP-PVCs) based on the relationship between the hourly PVC density and hourly mean HR. Twenty-four-hour Holter electrocardiograms were performed before and 1 to 3 months after the initiation of therapy.There were no significant between-group differences in the baseline characteristics. Both the TB (from 14.6 [9.9-19.2] to 7.6 [1.7-15.8]%, P < 0.001) and OB (from 13.2 [7.6-21.9] to 4.6 [0.5-17.0]%, P = 0.0041) significantly decreased the PVC density, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.73). Compared to OB, the TB had similar effects in reducing the PVC density for P-PVCs (P = 0.96), and NP-PVCs (P = 0.71). The TB significantly decreased the P-PVC density from baseline not only during day-time (P < 0.001) but also night-time (P = 0.0017), while the OB did not significantly decrease the P-PVC density from baseline during night-time (P = 0.17).Compared to OB, the TB could be used with the same efficacy of reducing idiopathic PVCs. The TB may be a more useful therapeutic agent than OB for P-PVCs during a 24-hour period.