Effect of Beta Blockers, Particularly Carvedilol, on Reducing the Risk of Events After Acute Myocardial Infarction

The morbidity and mortality rates of patients who have had acute myocardial infarctions (AMIs) are high. Clinical guidelines recommend that most survivors of AMIs without contraindications should receive long-term treatment with β blockade. Beta blockers have been shown to reduce mortality and reinfarction after AMI, but the pharmacologic differences among β blockers may affect their ability to reduce these adverse events. The β blocker carvedilol has adjunctive pharmacologic properties, including α1-blocking, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiarrhythmic activities that appear to underlie the outcomes demonstrated in experimental models and clinical trials. In conclusion, this review explores the experimental and clinical evidence supporting the preferential use of carvedilol in post-AMI patients with left ventricular dysfunction.