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In another multicenter, randomized, double-blind study of beta-blockade for patients with severe heart failure, investigators examined the survival effect of bucindolol. Enrolled were 2708 patients (mean age, 60; 22 percent female; 30 percent non-white) with NYHA class III or IV heart failure and ejection fractions of ≤35 percent; all were receiving ACE inhibitors.
The data safety and monitoring board terminated the trial early after determining that the study was unlikely to yield a positive finding. During a mean 2-year follow-up, the between-groups all-cause mortality difference was nonsignificant (33 percent in the placebo group vs. 30 percent in the bucindolol group); however, the rate of cardiovascular mortality was significantly lower…