| Title | Safety and efficacy of doxazosin as an "add-on" antihypertensive therapy in mild to moderate heart failure patients. | | Author(s) | Spoladore R, Roccaforte R, Fragasso G, Gardini C, Palloshi A, Cuko A, Arioli F, Salerno A, Margonato A | | Institution | Cardiothoracic and Vascular Department, Clinical Cardiology, Heart Failure Clinic, Istituto Scientifico San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. spoladore.roberto@hsr.it | | Source | Acta Cardiol 2009 Aug; 64(4):485-91. | | MeSH | Aged
Antihypertensive Agents
Doxazosin
Female
Heart Failure
Hospitalization
Humans
Hypertension
Male
Stroke Volume
| | Abstract | OBJECTIVE: Doxazosin treatment has been discouraged in hypertensive patients in order to prevent heart failure (HF) development. However, this drug is still prescribed as an "add-on" medication to achieve a better blood pressure (BP) control. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of doxazosin as an "add-on" medication in HF patients with uncontrolled hypertension.
METHODS AND RESULTS: We reviewed our HF clinic files to collect patient variables recorded at baseline and during follow-up visits in patients receiving, or not, doxazosin. We compared HF-related hospitalization rates and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates between patients on doxazosin and those not on doxazosin. We constructed cumulative risk curves for time to first event (HF-related hospitalization and/or death) for both groups of patients. Fifty-two HF patients had been prescribed doxazosin. At baseline, several relevant variables were unevenly distributed between patients receiving doxazosin and those not receiving doxazosin (N=122), such as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and NYHA class. HF-related hospitalization and death rates were similar between patients on doxazosin and those not on doxazosin at the end of the follow-up. Even after adjustment for all potentially confounding variables, doxazosin was not associated with HF-related hospitalization and/or death. Doxazosin significantly reduced BP, but did not affect NYHA class.
CONCLUSIONS: Doxazosin, "on top" of other antihypertensive treatments was safe and effective, and did not appear to be associated with HF-related hospitalization and mortality rates in our patients with mild/moderate HF. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Comparative Study
Journal Article
| | PubMed ID | 19725441 |
|
