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COPYRIGHT 2005 International Medical News Group
Since the late 1990s, B-blockers have been part of the standard regimen for reducing mortality and hospitalizations among patients with heart failure.
Results from several clinical trials showed that [beta]-blocker treatment produces about a 35% reduction in mortality in patients with New York Heart Association class II-IV heart failure. Many specialists also believe that [beta]-blockers are effective for patients with class I disease who also have ischemic heart disease. And results in recent reports have confirmed the effectiveness of [beta]-blockers in special populations, including the elderly and patients with diabetes.
Although the efficacy of bisoprolol, carvedilol, and metoprolol has been documented in studies that compared each of these drugs against placebo, two of these agents were compared with each other in just one reported study, the Carvedilol or Metoprolol European Trial (COMET) (Lancet 2003;362:7-13). This study compared carvedilol, a nonselective agent, to metoprolol, an agent that selectively blocks [beta] receptors.
In COMET, carvedilol was...
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