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Published on: April 8, 2013

Metoprolol CR/XL improves systolic and diastolic left ventricular function in patients with chronic heart failure

Torstein Hole1, Gisle Frøland, Lars Gullestad

  • 1Section of Cardiology, Medical Department, Alesund Hospital, Norway. torstein.hole@helse-sunnmore.no

Echocardiography (Mount Kisco, N.Y.)
|April 1, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Metoprolol controlled release/extended release (CR/XL) improved systolic and diastolic function in chronic heart failure patients. This heart failure treatment enhanced left ventricular ejection fraction and mitral inflow parameters.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Pharmacology
  • Heart Failure Research

Background:

  • Chronic heart failure (CHF) significantly impairs left ventricular (LV) function.
  • Decreased ejection fraction (EF) is a hallmark of systolic dysfunction in CHF.
  • Diastolic dysfunction often coexists with systolic dysfunction in CHF patients.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the effect of metoprolol controlled release/extended release (CR/XL) on LV systolic and diastolic function.
  • To assess once-daily metoprolol CR/XL in patients with CHF and reduced EF.
  • To determine if metoprolol CR/XL improves echocardiographic parameters of cardiac function.

Main Methods:

  • Echocardiographic substudy of the Metoprolol CR/XL Randomized Intervention Trial in Heart Failure (MERIT-HF).
  • 66 patients with CHF and decreased EF were assessed over 12 months.
  • Measurements included LV dimensions, EF, and Doppler mitral inflow parameters (E-wave, A-wave).

Main Results:

  • Metoprolol CR/XL significantly increased LV ejection fraction from 0.26 to 0.31 (P = 0.009).
  • Diastolic function improved, evidenced by increased E-wave deceleration time (189 to 246 ms, P = 0.0012) and A-wave duration (122 to 145 ms, P = 0.014).
  • Placebo group showed no significant changes in these cardiac function parameters.

Conclusions:

  • Once-daily metoprolol CR/XL, as an adjunct to standard therapy, effectively improves systolic function in CHF patients.
  • Metoprolol CR/XL also enhances diastolic function in patients with chronic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction.
  • The study demonstrates the benefit of metoprolol CR/XL in managing heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.
Abstract

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