Abstract
The utility and safety of β-blockers in pulmonary hypertension is controversial. Anecdotal reports suggest that β-blockers may be harmful in these patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate outcomes of β-blocker use in pulmonary hypertension.
We reviewed patients from our pulmonary hypertension registry between 2000 and 2011. Patients who continued to use β-blockers were compared to those who never used β-blockers for all-cause mortality, time to clinical worsening events, defined as death, lung transplantation and hospitalisation due to pulmonary hypertension. We also evaluated the effect of β-blockers on 6-min walking distance and New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class.
133 patients used β-blockers and 375 patients never used β-blockers. Mean±sd age was 57±16 years and the median follow-up period was 78 months. Propensity-matched analysis showed that the adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) for mortality with β-blocker use was 1.13 (0.69–1.82) and for clinical worsening events was 0.96 (0.55–1.68). No significant difference was noted in probability of survival and time to clinical worsening events. Patients on β-blockers walked a shorter distance on follow-up 6 min walk test; follow-up NYHA class was similar between groups.
Pulmonary hypertension patients receiving β-blockers had a similar survival and time to clinical worsening events compared to patients not receiving them. Functional outcomes were similar, although β-blocker use was associated with a tendency towards shorter walking distance.
Abstract
β-blocker use does not affect survival, symptom worsening or functional capacity in pulmonary hypertension http://ow.ly/KqFLk
Footnotes
Editorial comment in: Eur Respir J 2015; 46: 619–621 [DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00051215]
Conflict of interest: None declared.
Support statement: Supported by National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant to Raed A. Dweik (P01HL107147). Funding information for this article has been deposited with FundRef.
This article has supplementary material available from erj.ersjournals.com
- Received November 21, 2014.
- Accepted March 1, 2015.
- Copyright ©ERS 2015