β blockers and mortality after myocardial infarction in patients without heart failure: multicentre prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE To assess the association between early and prolonged beta blocker treatment and mortality after acute myocardial infarction. DESIGN Multicentre prospective cohort study. SETTING Nationwide French registry of Acute ST- and non-STelevation Myocardial Infarction (FAST-MI) (at 223 centres) at the end of 2005. PARTICIPANTS 2679 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction and without heart failure or left ventricular dysfunction. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mortality was assessed at 30 days in relation to early use of beta blockers (<= 48 hours of admission), at one year in relation to discharge prescription, and at five years in relation to one year use. RESULTS beta blockers were…