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Carvedilol for the treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy in patients with heart failure?

Colleen K Rohrer1, Robert Lee Page, Simon F Shakar

  • 1Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, USA.

Journal of Cardiac Failure
|October 4, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Carvedilol, a heart failure drug, may also treat benign prostatic hypertrophy symptoms. Replacing it with bisoprolol caused urinary retention, which resolved upon returning to carvedilol.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Urology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Heart failure (HF) and benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) frequently coexist in older men.
  • Carvedilol uniquely combines beta-blockade for HF with alpha-1 blockade, a mechanism used for BPH treatment.

Observation:

  • A patient with HF and BPH experienced acute urinary retention after switching from carvedilol to bisoprolol.
  • Reinstatement of carvedilol led to the resolution of BPH symptoms.

Findings:

  • The patient's BPH was later confirmed by digital rectal exam.
  • Six months post-carvedilol reinstitution, BPH symptoms remained resolved.

Implications:

  • Carvedilol may be a viable option for managing HF with systolic dysfunction in men with concurrent BPH.
  • This could potentially eliminate the need for separate alpha-1 adrenergic blockers for BPH treatment.

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