@article {Swedberg134, author = {K Swedberg and A Hjalmarson and F Waagstein and I Wallentin}, title = {Adverse effects of beta-blockade withdrawal in patients with congestive cardiomyopathy.}, volume = {44}, number = {2}, pages = {134--142}, year = {1980}, doi = {10.1136/hrt.44.2.134}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group Ltd}, abstract = {Fifteen patients with congestive cardiomyopathy who had improved conspicuously on chronic administration of a beta-blocker were studied after withdrawal of the drug. In six patients there was a pronounced deterioration of their clinical condition, and in all of the remaining patients there was a significant decrease in ejection fraction, and signs of compromised diastolic function with pathological apex curves and an increase in third heart sound. All these changes were reversed within a few weeks to a few months after readministration of beta-blocking drugs. This study supports the idea that an aetiological factor in congestive cardiomyopathy may be a pathological response to sympathetic stimulation which could be partly controlled by administration of beta-blocking drugs.}, issn = {0007-0769}, URL = {https://heart.bmj.com/content/44/2/134}, eprint = {https://heart.bmj.com/content/44/2/134.full.pdf}, journal = {Heart} }