Chronic air way diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, are the common co-morbidities to elderly patients with heart  failure  (HF).Although β-blockers have been proved to significantly reduce the hospitalizations and mortality causing by chronic HF, they are considered being contraindicated to patients with chronic airway diseases due to their counteracting effects on bronchus’ dilatation.

To apply the best current evidence of using β-blockers  to  a  clinical case,  we  conducted  a review using defined key words for electronic database search. Randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews or meta-analysis which examined respiratory adverse effects of β-blockers on HF patients with chronic airway diseases were included in our review. Pulmonary function parameters (e.g. FEV1) and respiratory symptoms were summarized from retrieved studies.
The results demonstrate that cardio-selective β-blockers remain beneficial to cardiovascular (CV) diseases patients with chronic airway diseases  without increasing adverse respiratory effects. However, there is no study to assess the respiratory effects of β-blockers on CV diseases patients with acute exacerbation of airway diseases. Overall, β-blockers  may be  generally effective and safe to treat heart failure in patients with stable chronic airway diseases, and there is no evidence to support the contraindication. We therefore  made  some  recommendations on  the drugs usage of this clinical case.