Beta-Blockers Slow, Even Reverse Coronary Artery Disease, Cleveland Clinic Study Shows

Main Category: Heart Disease
Also Included In: Hypertension
Article Date: 12 Jul 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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A Cleveland Clinic study is reporting that beta-blockers, a class of drugs used to lower blood pressure and prevent symptoms in a variety of heart conditions, can slow progression and can even induce regression of coronary artery disease.

The study appears in the July 3, 2007, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine and suggests that all patients with coronary disease can benefit from this class of agents.

Coronary artery disease or clogging of vessels supplying the heart is one of the most common causes of death in the United States and other developed countries. Currently, more than 15 million Americans have coronary artery disease.

Researchers aimed to identify whether beta-blockers have any effect on progression of coronary disease in a group of more than 1,500 patients with this disease. They began by measuring the amount of fatty plaque found in the arteries of these patients, using high-resolution intravascular ultrasound. This required the insertion of tiny ultrasonic transducers in the coronary arteries to provide a baseline examination.

Subsequently, the ultrasound examination was repeated after 18 to 24 months and the progression rate of coronary disease was compared in patients who were treated with beta-blockers and those who were not treated with these agents. The researchers found that patients treated with beta-blockers had a significant reduction in the amount of fatty plaque at the follow-up examination, whereas those not on a beta-blocker experienced no change in the amount of plaque.

"Our results have important implications," said Ilke Sipahi, M.D., F.A.C.C., a Cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic and the study's lead author. "Up to now, we thought that beta-blockers were beneficial only to preserve heart muscle function in patients with a previous injury to their heart due to a heart attack. Now we learn that these drugs also have favorable effects on the coronary arteries by reducing clogging of these vessels in a similar fashion to cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Our results indicate that all patients with coronary disease, such as those with coronary stents, previous bypass surgery and even patients with earlier stages of coronary artery disease can benefit from treatment with beta-blockers."

About Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. Approximately 1,500 full-time salaried physicians at Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida represent more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties. In 2005, there were 2.9 million outpatient visits to Cleveland Clinic. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 80 countries. There were nearly 54,000 hospital admissions to Cleveland Clinic in 2005.

Cleveland Clinic's Web site address is http://www.clevelandclinic.org.

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