THUSDAY, April 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- For stabilized acute myocardial infarction (AMI) without left ventricular systolic dysfunction or heart failure, discontinuing β-blockers after one year or longer is noninferior to continuing β-blockers, according to a study published online March 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held from March 28 to 30 in New Orleans.
Ki Hong Choi, M.D., from Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues examined the long-term benefits of β-blocker therapy in stabilized patients with AMI without left ventricular systolic dysfunction or history of heart failure in a randomized, noninferiority trial. Stabilized patients with AMI who had received β-blocker therapy for one year or longer were randomly assigned to either discontinue or continue β-blocker therapy (1,246 and 1,294 individuals, respectively).
The researchers found that a primary end point event (composite of all-cause death, recurrent MI, or hospitalization for heart failure) occurred in 58 and 74 patients in the discontinuation and continuation groups, respectively, after a median follow-up of 3.1 years (four-year Kaplan-Meier estimate, 7.2 versus 9.0 percent; hazard ratio, 0.80; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.57 to 1.13; P = 0.001 for noninferiority). The two groups had a similar incidence of serious adverse events.
"In practice, for stable patients who are several years out from a heart attack, discontinuation can be considered through shared decision-making and with monitoring of blood pressure and heart rate," senior author Joo-Yong Hahn, M.D., also from Samsung Medical Center, said in a statement.
Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical and health technology industries.