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 <40% and a current LVEF ≥40%. Patients with recovered DCM were divided into two groups according to the use of beta-blockers. The primary outcome was defined as a decrease in 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 <40% and current LVEF ≥40%; (2) previous LVEF <35% and current LVEF ≥40%; (3) previous LVEF <30% and current LVEF ≥40%; (4) previous LVEF <40% and current LVEF ≥50%. Outcomes were also changed as (1) decrease in LVEF ≥5% (2) decrease in LVEF ≥10% (3) decrease in LVEF ≥15%. The analysis of outcomes by using combination of multiple imputation and inverse probability of treatment weighting was also conducted to assess the effects of missing data and selection bias attributable to propensity score matching on outcomes. Results From 2003 to 2014, 40,794 consecutive patients with DCM were screened. Out of 5,338 eligible patients, 4,078 received beta-blockers. Propensity score matching yielded 998 pairs. Mean age was 61.7 years and 1,497 (75.0%) was male. Mean LVEF was 49.1±8.1%. The primary outcome was observed less frequently in beta-blocker group than in no beta-blocker group (18.0% vs. 23.5%; odds ratio [OR] 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58–0.89; P=0.003). The prevalence of increases in LVDd (11.5% vs. 15.8%; OR 0.70; 95% CI 0.54–0.91; P=0.007) and LVDs (23.1% vs. 27.2%; OR 0.80; 95% CI 0.65–0.99; P=0.041) was also lower in the beta-blocker group. Similar results were obtained in per-protocol analysis. These results were robust to several sensitivity analyses. As a result of preventing a decrease in LVEF, the deterioration to HFrEF was also prevented by the use of beta-blocker (23.6% vs. 30.6%). Subgroup analysis demonstrated that beta-blocker prevented decrease in LVEF regardless of atrial fibrillation. Conclusion Use of beta-blocker was associated with prevention of decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with recovered DCM. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): Health Sciences Research Grants from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Comprehensive Research on Cardiovascular Diseases)