Abstract
Treatment with beta blockers has for several decades been the mainstay of secondary prevention after a recent myocardial infarction. Studies that showed a favourable prognostic effect of beta blockers were carried out in a period prior to the routine use of reperfusion treatment.
In patients treated with fibrinolytic therapy, the benefit is less pronounced. Even less clear is the situation in patients who are treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention, since previous prospective studies as well as observational data from registries have so far failed to provide an unequivocal opinion as to the indications and clinical benefit of beta blockers.