Benefit of beta blockers in elderly heart failure patients
A trial has, for the first time, confirmed the benefit of beta-blockers in elderly patients with heart failure.
The trial involved 2,135 patients. It was designed to evaluate the effects
of the beta-blocker nebivolol versus placebo on top of background therapy.
Patients were aged 70 or older and had clinically stable chronic heart
failure, with or without systolic dysfunction. Patients were randomised
to receive either nebivolol or placebo once daily.
The drug reduced the combined endpoint of mortality and cardiovascular
hospital admission by 14 per cent compared with placebo.
Investigator Andrew Coats, University of Sydney, Australia, said: “We
know that there is underuse of beta-blockers in heart failure patients.
This is especially the case for those aged 70 and over. Doctors have
been concerned that the trials to date have not recruited patients like
the ones they see in routine practice. The SENIORS study addresses this
concern, and hopefully, as a result, will change clinical practice so
that every elderly patient that could benefit from optimal heart failure
treatment will get it.”
Results were reported at last week’s European
Society of Cardiology meeting in Munich. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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