Suppression of Myocardial Injury Markers following Percutaneous Coronary Interventions by Pre-treatment with Carvedilol

BACKGROUND: Retrospective studies and clinical trials have indicated that β-receptor blockers have an influential role in improving survival and reducing risk of recurrent infarction in patients with myocardial infarction. However, there is still controversy regarding the effects of β-receptor blockers on the markers of myocardial infarction following percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the pre-treatment effect of Carvedilol on markers of myocardial injury in patients undergoing elective PCI. METHOD AND MATERIALS: In this clinical trial patients undergoing elective PCI were categorized randomly in the Carvedilol group including 100 patients who received two doses of 12.5 mg, 6 and 12 hours prior to PCI, and the control group (105 patients). Blood samples were obtained to analyse cardiac biomarker, 12 and 24 hours after PCI. RESULTS: The clinical features were not significantly different between the two groups. A increase in the level of Troponin I was observed in the control group 24 hours following PCI (P=0.042), whereas this rise in troponin I was slight and insignificant in the Carvedilol group (P>0.05). some difference was observed between the two groups in regard to the level of CPK-MB after PCI (P=0.041). CONCLUSION: The findings of our study indicate that pre-treatment with Carvedilol confers cardio-protection by limiting the rise of markers of myocardial injury following PCI.