Background:
Guidelines generally recommend the use of beta-blockers in patients with heart failure (HF) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS). It has recently been suggested that non-selective beta-blockers were more effective than selective beta-blockers in HF. However, a better efficacy of different beta-blockers, specifically analyzing total and cardiovascular (CV) mortality and morbidity, in patients with HF or ACS is unclear.
Methods:
We performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) through Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases to identify RCTs comparing selective or non-selective beta-blockers with placebo (29 studies, 31,856 patients), or directly comparing the two different beta-blockers (5 studies, 3,733 patients). Studies were selected using a priori defined criteria and data on study characteristics, study quality and outcomes were abstracted. All included studies had (cardiovascular) mortality as primary or secondary endpoint.
Results:
In patients with HF non-selective beta-blockers were associated with a reduction in total mortality (RR 0.75, 95%CI 0.61–0.92), and with a non significant decrease in CV mortality. Selective beta-blockers decreased total and CV mortality (RR 0.76, 0.68–0.84 and RR 0.78, 0.66–0.92, respectively). In patients with ACS non-selective beta-blockers were associated with a significant decrease in total mortality (RR 0.73, 0.64–0.82), CV mortality (RR 0.69, 0.60–0.80) and CV morbidity. Selective beta-blockers however had no effect on total mortality (RR 0.88, 0.68–1.15) or CV mortality (RR 0.89, 0.69–1.15). In HF, direct comparison showed a significantly decreased mortality (RR 0.86, 0.78–0.94) for non-selective beta-blockers compared to selective beta-blockers. For ACS, only one study directly compared different beta-blockers.
Conclusions:
In patients with HF, selective and non-selective beta-blockers seem equally effective in reducing mortality. In patients with ACS, selective beta-blockers had no influence on total and cardiovascular mortality, in contrast to non-selective beta-blockers. This meta-analysis suggests that patients with ACS should specifically be treated with non-selective beta-blockers to reduce total and cardiovascular mortality.
VINCULIN GENE EXPRESSION IN A COHORT OF EGYPTIAN PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE INDUCED BY ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME
