19 Nov Beta Blockers May Reduce Mortality In Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Lars H. Lund
Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
Department of Cardiology, Karolinska University Hospital
Stockholm, Sweden

Medical Research: What is the background for this study?

Dr. Lund: Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction is common and associated with poor prognosis and there is no therapy.

Beta-blockers reduce mortality in Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction and we hypothesized that they may be associated with reduced mortality also in Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Medical Research: What are the main findings?

Dr. Lund: We confirmed the hypothesis that beta blockers are associated with reduced mortality in Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Lund: This is by no means proof of a beneficial effect, but it provides a rationale for performing future randomized trials.

Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Lund: Beta blockers are generic and inexpensive and will not be studied by industry: Instead, we are seeking public funding to perform so called registry randomized clinical trials – RRCTs, where we use the registry platoform to perform the functions of a randomized trial. we encourage patients and clinicians to participate in these and other studies in Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Citation:

Last Updated on November 19, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD