Use of {beta}-Blockers in Pulmonary Hypertension [Advances in Heart Failure]

Contrasting with the major attention that left heart failure has received, right heart failure remains understudied both at the preclinical and clinical levels. However, right ventricle failure is a major predictor of outcomes in patients with precapillary pulmonary hypertension because of pulmonary arterial hypertension, and in patients with postcapillary pulmonary hypertension because of left heart disease. In pulmonary hypertension, the status of the right ventricle is one of the most important predictors of both morbidity and mortality. Paradoxically, there are currently no approved therapies targeting the right ventricle in pulmonary hypertension. By analogy with the key role of β-blockers in the management of left heart failure, some authors have proposed to use these agents to support the right ventricle function in pulmonary hypertension. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the use of β-blockers in pulmonary hypertension.

Source: Circulation: Heart Failure - March 31, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Perros, F., de Man, F. S., Bogaard, H. J., Antigny, F., Simonneau, G., Bonnet, S., Provencher, S., Galie, N., Humbert, M. Tags: Clinical Studies, Cardiovascular Disease, Heart Failure, Pulmonary Hypertension, Treatment Advances in Heart Failure Source Type: research