Should Beta Blockers Be Used With Caution In Patients With AV Block 1st Degree?

Posted on Thu, 17 May 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 17 May 2018 Answered on

Tue, 6 Feb 2024 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi, can I answer your health question? Please type your question here...I was told I had 1st° degree AV block and now they say I have something warm my heart races I can’t remember the name of it but they want to give me a low-dose of atenolol which is a beta blocker because they said it I will be in danger of going into or out of rhythm somehow I read your not supposed to take beta blockers with the AV block they say if they monitor this it’ll be OK because this second thing It’s more dangerous is this my only course

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
I would explain as follows:

Detailed Answer:

Hello,

Welcome and thank you for asking us.

I passed carefully through your question and would explain that it is true that beta blockers should be used with caution in patients with AV block 1st degree.

They are not counterindicated, but it is better to use low doses or even avoid them if not really necessary.

I would just recommend performing a cardiac ultrasound and some tests to investigate for the possible causes of palpitations:

- complete blood count for anemia
- thyroid hormone levels for thyroid gland dysfunction
- blood electrolytes.

An ambulatory 24-48 hours ECG monitoring is necessary to examine your heart rhythm trends for a prolonged time.

You should discuss with your doctor on the above tests.

Hope to have been helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar