Relationship Between β‐Blocker Therapy at Discharge and Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

BACKGROUND The evidence supporting the use of β-blockers in patients with acute coronary syndrome after successful percutaneous coronary intervention has been inconsistent and scarce. METHODS AND RESULTS Between March 1, 2009, and December 30, 2014, a total of 3180 eligible patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention were consecutively enrolled. The primary end point was all-cause death and the secondary end point was a composite of all-cause death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, heart failure readmission, and cardiogenic hospitalization. Patients were compared according to the use of β-blockers at discharge. Compared with the no β-blocker group, the risk of all-cause death was significantly lower in the β-blocker group (hazard ratio [HR], 0.33; 95% CI, 0.17-0.65 [P=0.001]). A consistent result was obtained in multiple adjusted model and propensity score-matched analysis. The use of β-blockers was also associated with decreased risk of composite of adverse cardiovascular events (HR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.28-0.81 [P=0.006]), although statistical significance disappeared after multivariable adjustment and propensity score matching. Furthermore, we performed post hoc analysis for the subsets of patients and the results revealed that patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction benefited the most from β-blocker therapy at discharge (HR, 0.04; 95% CI, 0.00-0.27 [P=0.001]), and the use of <50% of target dose was significantly associated with better outcome compared with no β-blocker use, rather than ≥50% of target dose. CONCLUSIONS The administration of relatively low β-blocker dose is associated with improved clinical outcomes among patients with acute coronary syndrome after successful percutaneous coronary intervention, especially for patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.