ObjectivesTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of ivabradine (IVA) for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy and safety of IVA for patients with CHF from inception to April, 2019. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed risk of bias of included studies, then, meta-analysis was performed using Stata 12.0 software.ResultsA total of 22 RCTs involving 2 010 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with control group, IVA group could decrease heart rate (HR) (WMD=−10.58, 95%CI −12.47 to −8.69, P=0.000) and N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) (WMD=−457.87, 95%CI −842.63 to −73.11, P=0.020). IVA group was superior in 6 minutes’ walk distance (6MWD) (WMD=40.49, 95%CI 27.83 to 53.15, P=0.000), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (WMD=5.11, 95%CI 3.74 to 6.48, P=0.000), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDd), left ventricular end-systolic dimension (LVESd) and incidence of endpoint events with significant difference. However, the total effective rate, the incidence of adverse reactions and blood pressures were similar between two groups.ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that IVA could significantly reduce HR, improve cardiac function and exercise tolerance in CHF patients with no significant increase of adverse events. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify above conclusions.