Original Article
Brent Klinkhammer* MD, PharmD
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite initially concerns about their use, beta-adrenergic blockers (BB) have been associated with improved outcomes in patients with uncorrected aortic stenosis. However, the effect of beta blockers on outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is unknown. PURPOSE: To elucidate the effect of beta blockers on patient-specific outcomes after TAVR. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of 339 consecutive patients who underwent a TAVR for severe aortic stenosis was performed to determine the effect of beta blockers on outcomes after TAVR. RESULTS: Despite a greater prevalence of several significant comorbidities and a higher predicted surgical risk, beta-adrenergic blockers are associated with an improve in overall survival at 1 year (83% vs. 67%, p =0.0398). The use of beta blocker was also associated with a reduction of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in the short-term (30 days- 6 months) time period (23% vs. 39%, p =0.0208) CONCLUSION: This study gives evidence to suggest that beta blockers are associated with an improvement of overall survival in the intermediate time period. This finding suggests that TAVR may be a compelling indication for use of a beta blocker.