The Clinical Impact of ß-Blocker Therapy on Patients With Chronic Coronary Artery Disease After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The outcome benefits of ß-blockers in chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) have not been fully assessed. We evaluated the prognostic impact of ß-blockers on patients with chronic CAD after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: A total of 3,075 patients with chronic CAD were included from the Grand Drug-Eluting Stent registry. We analyzed ß-blocker prescriptions, including doses and types, in each patient at 3-month intervals from discharge. After propensity score matching, 1,170 pairs of patients (ß-blockers vs. no ß-blockers) were derived. Primary outcome was defined as a composite endpoint of all-cause death and myocardial infarction (MI). We further analyzed the outcome benefits of different doses (low-, medium-, and high-dose) and types (conventional or vasodilating) of ß-blockers. RESULTS: During a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 3.1 (3.0-3.1) years, 134 (5.7%) patients experienced primary outcome. Overall, ß-blockers demonstrated no significant benefit in primary outcome (hazard ratio [HR], 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63-1.24), all-cause death (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.60-1.25), and MI (HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.49-3.15). In subgroup analysis, ß-blockers were associated with a lower risk of all-cause death in patients with previous MI and/or revascularization (HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.14-0.99) (p for interaction=0.045). No significant associations were found for the clinical outcomes with different doses and types of ß-blockers. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, ß-blocker therapy was not associated with better clinical outcomes in patients with chronic CAD undergoing PCI. Limited mortality benefit of ß-blockers may exist for patients with previous MI and/or revascularization. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03507205.