Effectiveness of long-term beta-blocker therapy for dilated cardiomyopathy-echocardiographical follow-up

• Published in: Cardiovascular drugs and therapy 1991-04, Vol.5 (2), p.463-469
• Main Authors: FUKUNAMI, M, HASHIMURA, K, NAGAREDA, T, KOTOH, K, HOKI, N, OHMORI, M, IKEDA, T, UMEMOTO, K, KUMAGAI, K, SAKAI, A, YAMADA, T, KONDOH, N, MINAMINO, T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adrenergic beta-Antagonists - therapeutic use; Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated - diagnosis; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated - drug therapy; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated - physiopathology; Cardiovascular system; Echocardiography; Endomyocardial Fibrosis - pathology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Metoprolol - therapeutic use; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Ventricular Function, Left - drug effects
• ISSN: 0920-3206; 1573-7241
• DOI: 10.1007/BF03029771

To evaluate the effectiveness of long-term beta-blocker therapy for dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), two groups (Group I: 18 patients, Group II: 17 patients) with DCM divided by the order at the entry were followed echocardiographically for 16.9 +/- 3.0 months in Group I and 21.4 +/- 3.9 months in Group II. Metoprolol (final dose: 60 mg/day) was administered in Group I, but not in Group II (the control), although the conventional treatment for heart failure was continued. The left ventricular end-systolic dimension and ejection fraction assessed by echocardiography improved significantly after 6 months in Group I, but not in Group II, even after 48 months, although there were no significant differences in baseline data between the two groups. The end-diastolic dimension decreased significantly after 12 months in Group I only. It was estimated, using the point count method on a left ventricular endomyocardial biopsy specimen taken at entry, that the improvement (delta EF) of the ejection fraction 12 months after metoprolol administration inversely correlated (r = -0.677, p less than 0.01) with percent fibrosis, indicating that the more myocardium remains, the more improvement is expected. These findings suggested a favorable effect of beta blockade in DCM, especially in cases with less fibrosis, showing that the endomyocardial biopsy could be of clinical use in selecting candidates for chronic beta-blocker therapy in DCM.