Cor Vasa 2025, 67(Suppl.2):26-31 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2025.048

(Beta-blockers in cardiac arrythmias)

Miloš Táborský, Milena Kubíčková

Kardiologická klinika, Fakulta zdravotnických studií Univerzity J. E. Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem a Krajská zdravotní, a.s. - Masarykova nemocnice v Ústí nad Labem, o.z., Ústí nad Labem, Česká republika

Beta-blockers have long been among the basic antiarrhythmic drugs. They are indicated for practically all types of arrhythmias except bradycardias. It is a large group of antiarrhythmic drugs that differ in their pharmacokinetic and chemical properties. Some of them block beta-adrenergic receptors selectively, while others act non-selectively. As a result, they reduce the influence of the sympathetic nervous system on the heart, have negative inotropic, chronotropic, bathmotropic and dromotropic effects. Although they have been present in medicine since the early 1960s, they still play a crucial role in the treatment of cardiac arrhyth- mias. They are also the first-line drugs used to control ventricular rate in patients with the most common arrhythmia - atrial fibrillation. Due to the aging of the population in developed countries and the increase in the number of patients with heart disease, the number of people suffering from cardiac arrhythmias will increase in the coming years. As a result, the role of beta-blockers will remain significant. Since arrhythmias are not an isolated diagnosis in most cases for our patients, it is advisable to always consider a type of beta-blocker that has a broad spectrum of indications with regard to common comorbidities (hypertension, heart failure, thyroid disease, etc.).

Keywords: Beta-blockers, Cardiac arrhythmias, Heart failure

Received: March 19, 2025; Accepted: March 19, 2025; Prepublished online: June 2, 2012; Published: April 15, 2025  Show citation