Results published in NEJM and The Lancet: Beta-blockers reduce risk after heart attack
The Norwegian-Danish BETAMI-DANBLOCK study shows that beta-blockers still provide clear health benefits after a heart attack – even in patients with normal or slightly reduced heart function. The study included over 5,600 patients who had recently had a heart attack within the past fourteen days.
Professor Dan Atar presented the results as "Hot Line" findings at the European Cardiology Congress (ESC) in Madrid (33.000 participants) on August 30 2025. At the same time, they were simultaneously published in the prestigious journals New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet.
The following OUH researchers have participated in the study:
Dan Atar, Arnhild Bakken, Sigrun Halvorsen, Kristoffer Andresen, Thor Edvardsen and Bjørn Bendz.
Links:
Article by Dan Atar, from the OUH blog "Ekspertsykehuset" (in Norwegian):
Norsk-dansk studie: Betablokkere reduserer risikoen etter hjerteinfarkt (oslo-universitetssykehus.no)
Video of the BETAMI presentation during the ESC 2025 Congress:
Prof. Dan Atar at ESC 2025 Congress (youtube.com)
Press release from the European Society of Cardiology:
Beta-blockers reduced cardiovascular events in selected heart attack patients without heart failure in the BETAMI-DANBLOCK trials (escardio.org)
The New England Journal of Medicine article:
Beta-Blockers after Myocardial Infarction in Patients without Heart Failure.
N Engl J Med. 2025 Aug 30. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2505985.
PMID: 40888716
The Lancet article:
β blockers after myocardial infarction with mildly reduced ejection fraction: an individual patient data meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
Lancet, August 30, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01592-2
Clinical Cardiovascular Research Group, headed by Sigrun Halvorsen and Dan Atar