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Many patients who begin taking beta-blockers after myocardial infarction (MI) continue these drugs indefinitely for secondary prevention of coronary events. In this pooled analysis, researchers combined data from the two recent open-label trials — ABYSS and SMART-DECISION — that addressed the safety of stopping beta-blockers in such patients.
More than 6000 adults who had taken a beta-blocker since a previous MI — and had no other cardiovascular indications such as heart failure or arrhythmia — were randomized to continue or discontinue their beta-blocker. At enrollment, a median of 3.6 years had elapsed since the index MI, and participants’ median left ventricular ejection fraction was 59%. The index MI was ST-segment elevation in 60…