Intravenous beta-blockers in acute myocardial infarction: perceived versus actual use by cardiologists and emergency physicians.

This study sought to determine the relationship between perceived and actual use of intravenous beta-blockers by cardiologists and emergency physicians for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The charts of 35 patients who presented to the emergency department of a community hospital with AMI during a 6-month period were retrospectively reviewed. Members of the departments of cardiology and emergency medicine were mailed a one-page survey pertaining to their use of intravenous beta-blockers in AMI. Of the 35 patients only 4 (11%) received an intravenous beta-blocker. Three of these 4 patients were either hypertensive or tachycardic and none had a contraindication to beta-blockade. A contraindication was present in 15 (48%) of those who did not get intravenous beta-blockade. The survey was completed by 11 (100%) of the emergency physicians and 68 (69%) of the cardiologists. Emergency physicians were significantly less likely to report using intravenous beta-blockers in AMI patients who were normotensive with normal heart rates (P=.007) and most (9 of 11) deferred the decision to the cardiologist. Although the majority of cardiologists reported giving an intravenous beta-blocker to at least 50% of AMI patients with normal blood pressure and pulse rates, the actual frequency was only 8% (1 of 13). In this institution, cardiologists overestimated the frequency of intravenous beta-blocker administration to patients with AMI. Emergency physicians usually deferred the decision on intravenous beta-blockers to cardiologists and reported a frequency of use that was much closer to actual practice.