Beta-blockers form an essential cornerstone of therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. However, the benefits of beta-blockade for heart failure in patients with concurrent atrial fibrillation are less certain. In this meta-analysis of individual-patient data from 10 randomized control trials comparing beta-blockers to placebo for systolic heart failure, investigators assessed the impact of […]
Tag: beta-blockers
β-blockers beneficial in some, but not all, ischemic heart disease patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery
Whether β-blockers reduce adverse events among patients with stable ischemic heart disease (IHD) undergoing non-cardiac surgery remains in debate. In this Danish study, the authors retrospectively identified 28,263 IHD patients who underwent non-cardiac surgeries and examined the association between pre-procedural β-blockers use and a major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) defined as 30-day cardiac death, myocardial […]
Beta-blockers lower mortality after non-cardiac surgery
The use of preoperative beta-blockade to minimise the cardiovascular risks of noncardiac surgery has remained controversial for some time, and recent studies have suggested that preoperative beta-blockade may be now decreasing as a result. The purpose of this study was to determine whether early preoperative exposure to beta-blockers could influence 30-day postoperative outcomes in patients […]
Benefits of beta-blockade in stable coronary disease may be overestimated
While the benefits of beta-blockade following myocardial infarction (MI) are well known, these benefits have been extrapolated to all patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), and even to high risk patients without coronary artery disease. However, beta-blockers also have a number of side effects and their tolerability is not ideal. Therefore, the objective of this […]
Beta-blockers could increase risk in noncardiac surgery
Many trials have suggested a protective role for beta-blockade in noncardiac surgery, and the current ACC/AHA guidelines recommend their use in high-risk patients. However, preliminary results from the recent POISE (Perioperative Ischemic Evaluation (POISE) trial showed a higher incidence of total deaths and stroke in patients receiving peri-operative bera-blockade compared with placebo. […]
Beta-blockers: all are equal, but some more than others
Carvedilol, Metoprolol and Bisoprolol have all been shown to improve outcomes in patients with heart failure. These evidence based beta-blockers (EBBB) are in contrast to atenolol, propranolol, and timolol, which have not been directly tested in heart failure. Therefore if a patient on one of these agents develops heart failure, is it neccesary to switch […]