Aunque muchos estudios han demostrado que el uso a largo plazo de bloqueadores beta tras un infarto de miocardio incrementa las probabilidades de supervivencia de los pacientes, la mayoría dejan de tomar estos fármacos al cabo de pocos meses.
Así lo muestra una investigación publicada en el "American Heart Journal" por un equipo de la Universidad de Duke (Estados Unidos).
Los autores destacan la importancia de seguir tomando la medicación al largo plazo tras el alta hospitalaria para obtener los beneficios que proporciona para la salud del paciente. Sin embargo, el estudio, realizado con más de 17.000 pacientes que habían sobrevivido al menos un año tras el infarto, muestra que sólo el 45% seguía cumpliendo con el tratamiento betabloqueante. Se observó que la mayoría de pacientes que dejan la medicación lo hacen entre los 30 y los 90 días después del alta hospitalaria.
American Heart Journal 2006;152:454
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