Acute heart failure with accompanying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Should we focus on beta blockers?

Background Acute heart failure (AHF) with systolic dysfunction is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, and optimal therapy is not well established, despite the findings of evidence-based medicine. Beta blockers provide a mortality and morbidity benefit in patients with chronic systolic HF, and are currently indicated in all stages of patients with systolic HF. We evaluated therapies before discharge, in particular beta blockers, in patients hospitalized with AHF with and without accompanying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods The hospital discharge records of 959 consecutive de novo AHF patients, hospitalized and treated for systolic HF (ejection fraction