The beta-blocker carvedilol reduces mortality by 35 per cent in patients with advanced heart failure, according to trial results.
The findings, which come from the Copernicus trial (carvedilol prospective randomised cumulative survival trial), were presented at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiologists in Amsterdam on August 29. The study was halted earlier this year after significant survival benefits were observed in patients taking the drug (see PJ, March 25, p458).
Over 2,200 patients with advanced heart failure, who had symptoms at rest or on minimal exertion, were involved in the trial. Patients continued to take existing heart failure medication (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics and digoxin) and were additionally given either placebo or carvedilol for up to 29 months. Patients in the carvedilol group had a significantly lower mortality rate compared with the placebo group (11.4 per cent and 18.5 per cent, respectively).
The chairman of the trial steering committee, Professor Milton Packer (professor of medicine, Columbia university, New York, US), commented: "The Copernicus trial is so important because the results tell us that carvedilol can reduce the risk of death in a much broader range of patients than we previously thought possible for agents with beta-blocking activity."
In June this year, restrictions that limited the use of carvedilol (Eucardic) in heart failure were removed (PJ, June 17, p933).