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Beta-blocker use in patients with severe decompensated cirrhosis may increase mortality (NEJM JW Gastroenterol Aug 2014 and Gastroenterology 2014; 146:1680).
To investigate this issue further, researchers conducted a post hoc analysis of risk for all-cause mortality and cirrhosis-related mortality using individual patient data from three industry-funded randomized, controlled trials of the efficacy and safety of satavaptan in treating ascites. Of 1188 participants, 588 had refractory ascites and the rest had diuretic-responsive ascites.
Rates of 52-week all-cause mortality and cirrhosis-related mortality were similar between the 559 beta-blocker users and 629 nonusers (hazard ratios, 0.92 and 1.00, respectively). All-cause mortality was also …