Effect of Carvedilol on Reduction in Heart Rate in Patients With Chronic Atrial Fibrillation

BACKGROUND: Currently, β-blockers are used most frequently for the purpose of heart rate (HR) control in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in worldwide. Carvedilol is one of common β-blockers and known to be effective for hypertension and heart failure. However, little can be found the information about the HR-lowering effect of carvedilol in patients with AF without heart failure. Therefore, we conducted this study to investigate the effect of carvedilol on HR in 3-minute electrocardiogram (ECG) and total heart beats (THBs) in 24-hour Holter ECG monitoring in patients with persistent or permanent AF. METHODS: A total of 13 hypertensive patients (73 ± 12 years, 7 males) with AF and HR 90 bpm or more were enrolled. All patients received carvedilol from 5 mg/day. The dose of drug was titrated every 4 weeks and raised to 10 or 20 mg/day if HR was 80 bpm or more. RESULTS: Mean HR was decreased from 101.9 ± 13.9 to 85.2 ± 15.2 bpm (P < 0.05) after treatment with carvedilol. THBs were also significantly decreased from 128 to 115 × 1,000/day (P < 0.001). Percent reduction in HR and THBs were 13.9% and 10.7%, respectively. The scores of Atrial Fibrillation Quality of Life Questionnaire (AFQLQ) did not change. Only one patient was required to discontinue carvedilol due to congestive heart failure. CONCLUSIONS: We observed that carvedilol certainly reduced HR in patients with chronic AF. We believe that the effect of carvedilol on the reduction in HR can contribute to the management of AF patients treated with rate-control strategy.