Prolonged activation of the sympathetic nervous system in patients with impaired ventricular
function exerts adverse effects on the heart and circulation by a variety of mechanisms that
are triggered by the interaction of norepinephrine and epinephrine with α1-, β1-, and β2-
adrenergic receptors. Drugs that interfere with the actions of the sympathetic nervous system
on α-and β-receptors might be expected to antagonize these deleterious effects. β1-receptor
blockers have been shown to prevent and reverse many of the structural and functional …