Medical treatment of heart failure: The Canadian Cardiovascular Society's Consensus Conference revisited

Summary The report of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society's Consensus Conference on the diagnosis and management of heart failure was published in 1994. Focusing on the chronic medical treatment of patients with systolic left ventricular dysfunction, we summarize and update the consensus recommendations in the light of the results of several more recent studies. While the positive treatment recommendations are still fully valid or even reinforced by these new data, a somewhat more liberal use of beta-blockers, amiodarone, and newer calcium channel blockers seems justified.