Beta-Blockers Reduce In-Hospital Mortality in Patients With Acute Decompensated HF: Study

Written By : MD Bureau |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2021-07-12T09:00:10+05:30 | Updated On 12 July 2021 3:16 PM IST

Beta blocker use at admission was associated with lower in hospital mortality in patients with acute decompensated heart failure.

In patients with contemporary acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), beta-blocker use at admission was significantly associated with lower in-hospital mortality, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Beta blockers are a class of medicines that are competitive antagonists. They block the beta receptor sites and are primarily used to manage abnormal heart rhythms. Acute Decompensated Heart Failure is defined as a sudden worsening of heart failure symptoms and is usually caused by edema with rapid fluid accumulation in the lungs. It is a serious condition and may even be fatal. It remains unclear whether beta blocker use at hospital admission is associated with better in hospital outcomes in patients with acute decompensated heart failure. With this background, researchers carried out a study with the purpose of investigating the effect of beta blocker use at admission for ADHF on inhospital outcomes in patients with ADHF.

The researchers evaluated the factors independently associated with beta blocker use at admission, and the effect of beta blocker use at admission on in hospital mortality in 3817 patients with acute decompensated heart failure enrolled in the Kyoto Congestive Heart Failure registry.

There were 1512 patients (39.7%) receiving, and 2305 patients (60.3%) not receiving beta blockers at admission for the index acute decompensated heart failure hospitalization. Patients on beta blockers had significantly lower inhospital mortality rates (4.4% versus 7.6%). Even after adjusting for confounders, beta blocker use at admission remained significantly associated with lower in hospital mortality risk. Furthermore, beta blocker use was significantly associated with both lower cardiovascular mortality risk and lower non-cardiovascular mortality risk. The association of beta blocker use with lower in hospital mortality risk was relatively more prominent in patients receiving high dose beta blockers. The magnitude of the effect of beta blocker use was greater in patients with previous heart failure hospitalization than in patients without.

The study clearly indicates that the lower in hospital mortality risk of patients receiving beta blockers at admission relative to those not receiving beta blockers at admission was significant.

"The data suggests that beta-blocker use at very early phase of acute decompensation is crucial," the researchers concluded.

Reference:

Study titled, "Lower In Hospital Mortality With BetaBlocker Use at Admission in Patients With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure," as published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.120.020012

JAHABeta-Blockersheart failuremortality

Article Source : JAHA

MD Bureau

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Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751