AstraZeneca's Toprol XL, given before surgery to prevent heart complications, increases the danger of stroke or death, researchers said.
The researchers studied 8,351 patients at risk for cardiac complications who were having an operation that didn't involve the heart. While the drug reduced the chance of a heart attack, the increased possibilities for death and stroke may outweigh its usefulness, they said in The Lancet.
``Our results highlight the risk in assuming a peri- operative beta-blocker regimen has benefit without substantial harm,'' authors led by researcher P.J. Devereaux from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario wrote. ``Patients are unlikely to accept the risk.''
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