ReviewClinical epidemiology2021
Effect of Beta-Blockers on Stroke Outcome: A Meta-Analysis.
Review in Clinical epidemiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- In-Hospital ECG Findings, Changes in Medical Management, and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Acute Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2023Trial
- Histone neutralization protects the ischemic brain against the consequences of stroke-associated pneumonia.Acta neuropathologica · 2026Article
- State-of-the-art review: ß-blockade in critical illness.Intensive care medicine · 2026Review
- Early Cardiac Workload and Long-Term Prognosis After Intracerebral Hemorrhage: Insights from a Large Multicenter Cohort.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Article
- Beyond the usual suspects: rethinking post-stroke immunosuppression.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Autonomic dysfunction after stroke: an overview of recent clinical evidence and perspectives on therapeutic management.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2025Review
- Sympathetic overactivation and catecholamine toxicity: mechanisms and therapeutic strategies for neurogenic heart injury following acute ischemic stroke.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Review
- Stroke Related Brain-Heart Crosstalk: Pathophysiology, Clinical Implications, and Underlying Mechanisms.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Review
- Autonomic dysfunction and treatment strategies in intracerebral hemorrhage.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Review
- The Beneficial Effects of Beta Blockers on the Long-Term Prognosis of Patients With Premature Atrial Complexes.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionCardiovascular events and infections are common in the acute phase after stroke. It has been suggested that these complications may be associated with excessive sympathetic activation due to the stroke, and that beta-adrenergic antagonists (beta-blockers) therefore may be beneficial.
aimThe aim of the current meta-analysis was to investigate the association between beta-blocker treatment in acute stroke and the three outcomes: mortality, functional outcome and post-stroke infections.
methodsA literature search was performed using the keywords stroke, cerebrovascular disorders, adrenergic beta-antagonists, treatment outcome and mortality. Randomized clinical trials and observational studies were eligible for data extraction. Heterogeneity was investigated using I
resultsA total of 20 studies were eligible for at least one of the three outcomes. Two of the included studies were randomized controlled trials and 18 were observational studies. Quality assessments indicated that the risk of bias was moderate. The meta-analysis found no significant association between treatment with beta-blockers and any of the three outcomes. The studies analyzed for the outcomes mortality and infection were heterogeneous, while studies analyzed for functional outcome were homogeneous. The articles analyzed for mortality showed signs of publication bias.
conclusionThe lack of significant effects in the current meta-analysis, comprising more than 100,000 patients, does not support the proposed beneficial effects of beta-blockers in the acute phase of stroke.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.