News from the Department of Medicine

Knowridge Reports on Plante Study of ‘Stiff-Heart’ Patients and Beta-Blockers

July 27, 2022 by Lucy Gardner Carson

(JULY 27, 2022) A recent study by Timothy Plante, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, and colleagues found that so-called stiff-heart heart failure accounts for about half of all cases; in addition, most stiff-heart patients take beta-blocker medications despite unclear benefits from their regular use, according to Knowridge Science Report.

Timothy Plante, M.D., assistant professor of medicine

(JULY 27, 2022) A recent study by Timothy Plante, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, and colleagues found that so-called stiff-heart heart failure (in stiff-heart heart failure, the heart is less able to relax and fill with blood) accounts for about half of all cases; in addition, most stiff-heart patients take beta-blocker medications despite unclear benefits from their regular use, according to Knowridge Science Report.

Because beta-blockers save lives in “weak-heart” heart failure (in weak-heart heart failure, the heart muscle is unable to contract well), doctors assume they are also effective in stiff-heart heart failure — but the researchers found beta-blocker use to be a risk factor for hospitalizations for heart failure among these patients with stiff-heart heart failure. Beta-blocker use was linked to a 74 percent higher risk of heart failure hospitalizations among participants with heart failure and a normal pump function.

Despite their common use, the researchers note that beta-blocker use in stiff-heart heart failure has not been sufficiently studied.

Read full story at Knowridge Science Report