Beta Blockers and Heart Failure

reduced longevity.1 Heart failure can be due to systolic or diastolic left ventricular dysfunction. Most patients with heart failure have primarily systolic dysfunction. In two-thirds of patients with systolic dysfunction, the cause is coronary artery disease.2 However, patients may also have nonischaemic causes of cardiomyopathy such as hypertension, valvular heart disease, myocarditis, systemic disease, toxins, alcohol/drug abuse, or idiopathic cardiomyopathy. Depressed left ventricular ejection fraction (<40%) is the hallmark of systolic dysfunction. Diastolic dysfunction is defined as normal or preserved rest systolic function in the presence of