Routine beta-blocker administration following acute myocardial infarction: why still an unsolved issue?

Since the 1980s, the mortality from myocardial infarction (MI) has regressed by approximately 25% in Western countries, not only due to the development of routine defibrillation, monitored units and early coronary reperfusion but also to the introduction of antiplatelet therapies, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors/ angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), statins and betablockers.