Dr Renata Auriemma speaks about research comparing the short and long term affects of the GH receptor antagonist pegvisomant on acromegaly patient cardiac rhythm. Dr Auriemma explains how pegvisomant works and outlines how the study has shown that although short term use has no significant effect; 18 months of treatment effectively reduced patient heart rate. Many acromegaly patients die from cardiac problems and reducing heart rate with pegvisomant is thought to be an effective way of preventing this.