Beta-blocker use is associated with prevention of left ventricular remodeling in recovered dilated cardiomyopathy

Abstract Background Withdrawal of optimal medical therapy has been reported to relapse cardiac dysfunction in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) whose cardiac function had improved. However, it is unknown whether beta-blockers can prevent deterioration of cardiac function in those patients. Purpose We examined the effect of beta-blockers on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in recovered DCM. Methods We analyzed the clinical personal records of DCM, a national database of Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, between 2003 and 2014. Recovered DCM was defined as a previously documented LVEF 10% at two years of follow-up. A one to one propensity case-matched analysis was used. A per-protocol analysis was also performed. Considering intra- and inter-observer variability of echocardiographic evaluations, we also examined outcomes by multivariable logistic regression model after changing the inclusion criteria as follows; (1) previous LVEF