The use of beta blockers for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) appeared to be safe in early clinical trials, and also improved right ventricular ejection fraction, researchers said here.

In the trial that included 18 patients – 17 of them women –right ventricular ejection fraction was improved 4% among patients treated with beta blockers (P=0.019), said Jasmijn van Campen, MD, a staff pulmonologist at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.

Treatment also resulted in a reduction of heart rate by 10 beats per minute (P<0.0001), and quality of life improved significantly (P=0.027) as assessed by the Minnesota quality of life questionnaire, van Campen said in her oral, late-breaking presentation at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society. She said that 14 of 17 patients who were evaluable achieved heart-rate reductions of greater than 10%. ...