Should We Be Using Upstream Beta-Blocker Therapy for Acute Myocardial Infarction?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Controversy exists whether beta-blockers should be given before primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or to defer their administration for up to 24 hours. RECENT FINDINGS: Animal studies, most of them conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, showed evidence that early beta-blocker administration may reduce infarct size. Subsequent human studies had mixed results on infarct size and survival. More specifically, in the current primary PCI era, only four studies evaluated the impact of early intravenous beta-blocker administration after acute myocardial infarction, only two of them before PCI. All studies agree that in hemodynamically stable patients, early intravenous beta-blocker administration is safe and protected against malignant arrhythmias. Nevertheless, results on infarct size and mortality are equivocal. Considering the heterogeneity of currently available data, further studies are still needed to assess the benefit of early injection of metoprolol in STEMI patients in a large double-blinded and randomized design versus placebo.