Carvedilol update III: Rationale for use in congestive heart failure

In February of 1995, several multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of the novel, multiple action cardiovascular drug, carvedilol, were terminated prematurely for ethical reasons due to the remarkable reduction in mortality observed in patients receiving carvedilol plus conventional therapy (i.e., angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics and digitalis) compared to patients receiving placebo plus conventional therapy. The dramatic reduction in mortality produced by carvedilol occurred across all studies and was observed in patients with mild, moderate and severe heart failure. The results of these dramatic clinical trials with carvedilol will be presented later this year.