β-blocker use in patients after percutaneous coronary interventions: One size fits all? Worse outcomes in patients without myocardial infarction or heart failure

Abstract Background The influence of β-blocker therapy on prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been fully explored. Methods and results We identified 5288 CAD patients who did not have myocardial infarction (MI) or heart failure (HF) but underwent PCI from a large multi-center registry enrolling consecutive patients undergoing first coronary revascularization from 2005 to 2007. The primary outcome was a composite endpoint of cardiac death and/or MI (cardiac death/MI) at 3 years after hospital discharge for PCI. β-blockers were prescribed in 1117 patients (β group, 21.1%) at discharge, while 4171 patients did not (no-β group, 78.9%). Patients in the β group more often had hypertension, multivessel disease, use of statin and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers, but less often had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The 3-year incidence of cardiac death/MI was higher in the β group (4.9% vs. 3.4%, log-rank p = 0.02). After adjusting for potential confounders, β-blocker therapy was associated with significantly increased risk for cardiac death/MI (hazard ratio 1.48, 95% confidence interval 1.05–2.10, p = 0.02). Conclusions β-blocker therapy was associated with worse 3-year clinical outcomes in CAD patients who underwent PCI but had no history of MI or HF. Randomized trials are warranted to identify appropriate subsets of patients who could truly benefit from long-term use of β-blockers in this setting.