Although beta-blockers reduce deaths among patients with some cardiovascular conditions by 30-40 per cent, their use “is frequently withheld in patients who have co-existing COPD because clinicians fear beta-blockers will provoke bronchospasm and induce respiratory failure”, according to two Canadian doctors.
Dr Don D. Sin and Dr S.F. Paul Man, University of British Columbia and Providence Heart and Lung Institute, Vancouver said the findings of Dutch doctors (see story, left) contrasted with studies showing “fewer than one-third of patients with COPD receive beta-blockers after an acute coronary event despite data that they prolong life and improve health outcomes in such patients”.
The doctors said the Dutch study “provocatively suggests that the use of beta-blockers…can prolong survival and reduce exacerbations in COPD. However…a large, well-conducted, randomised controlled trial will be needed to confirm these findings”.
Archives of Internal Medicine 2010;170:849-850
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