Titrating Beta-Blockers for Patients with Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction

Up-titration takes longer, and adverse consequences may be greater, than for patients with HF and reduced EF.

Beta-blocker therapy benefits patients with heart failure (HF) and reduced left-ventricular ejection fraction (EF), but the data on beta-blockers in patients with HF and preserved EF are less clear. To add to the evidence base, researchers in Europe randomly assigned 876 patients with HF (aged >65) to receive bisoprolol or carvedilol (titrated to the target or highest-tolerated dose); 626 patients had a reduced EF, and 250 had a preserved EF.

Preserved EF was associated with female sex, older age, and greater body-mass index — and with higher systolic blood pressure (SBP), lower resting heart rate, and lower New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class at baseline. Regardless of beta-blocker assignment, patients with preserved EF had s…

Reviewing Author

Joel M. Gore, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNIH–National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Joel M. Gore, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNIH–National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Titrating Beta-Blockers for Patients with Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction

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Reviewing Author