We examined REMADHE trial and grouped patients according to etiology (Chagas versus non-Chagas) and beta-blocker
therapy. Primary end point was all-cause mortality or
heart transplantation. Altogether 456 patients were studied; 27 (5.9%) were submitted to
heart transplantation and 202 (44.3%) died. Chagas etiology was present in 68 (14.9%) patients; they had lower body mass index (24.1+/-4.1 versus 26.3+/-5.1, P=0.001), smaller end-diastolic left ventricle diameter (6.7+/-1.0 mm versus 7.0+/-0.9 mm, P=0.001), smaller proportion of beta-blocker
therapy (35.8% versus 68%, P<0.001), and higher proportion of
spironolactone therapy (74.6% versus 57.8%, P=0.003). Twenty-four (35.8%) patients with
Chagas disease were under beta-blocker
therapy and had lower serum
sodium (136.6+/-3.1 versus 138.4+/-3.1 mEqs, P=0.05) and lower body mass index (22.5+/-3.3 versus 24.9+/-4.3, P=0.03) compared with those who received beta-blockers. Survival was lower in patients with Chagas
heart disease as compared with other etiologies. When only patients under beta-blockers were considered, the survival of patients with
Chagas disease was similar to that of other etiologies. The survival of patients with beta-blockers was higher than that of patients without beta-blockers. In Cox regression model, left ventricle end-diastolic diameter (hazard ratio, 1.78; CI, 1.15 to 2.76; P=0.009) and beta-blockers (hazard ratio, 0.37; CI, 0.14 to 0.97; P=0.044) were associated with better survival.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that beta-blockers may have beneficial effects on survival of patients with
heart failure and Chagas
heart disease and warrants further investigation in a prospective, randomized trial. Clinical Trial Registration- clinicaltrials.gov. Identifier: NCT00505050.