Loading...
Many of the studies showing benefits of beta-blockade have been performed with carvedilol and have focused on mortality as the main outcome. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, sponsored by the maker of metoprolol succinate, researchers tested the effect of controlled-release metoprolol in 3991 patients with chronic heart failure and ejection fractions of 0.40 or less; average follow-up was 1 year.
Patients randomized to metoprolol initially received 25 mg or 12.5 mg of the drug once daily and were titrated up to target doses of 200 mg once daily. Metoprolol therapy was superior to placebo for several outcomes; for example, there were significantly fewer events with metoprolol than with placebo for the combined endpoi…