Reduction in Subtypes and Sizes of Myocardial Infarction With Ticagrelor in PEGASUS-TIMI 54

Background: Ticagrelor reduced cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), or stroke in patients with prior MI in PEGASUSTIMI 54 (Prevention of Cardiovascular Events [eg, Death From Heart or Vascular Disease, Heart Attack, or Stroke] in Patients With Prior Heart Attack Using Ticagrelor Compared to Placebo on a Background of Aspirin). MI can occur in diverse settings and with varying severity; therefore, understanding the types and sizes of MI events prevented is of clinical importance. Methods and Results: MIs were adjudicated by a blinded clinical events committee and categorized by subtype and fold elevation of peak cardiac troponin over the upper limit of normal. A total of 1042 MIs occurred in 898 of the 21 162 randomized patients over a median follow-up of 33 months. The majority of the MIs (76%) were spontaneous (Type 1), with demand MI (Type 2) and stent thrombosis (Type 4b) accounting for 13% and 9%, respectively; sudden death (Type 3), percutaneous coronary intervention–related (Type 4a) and coronary artery bypass graft–related (Type 5) each accounted for <1%. Half of MIs (520, 50%) had a peak troponin ≥10x upper limit of normal and 21% of MIs (220) had a peak troponin ≥1009 upper limit of normal. A total of 21% (224) were ST-segment–elevation MI STEMI. Overall ticagrelor reduced MI (4.47% versus 5.25%, hazard ratio 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.72–0.95, P=0.0055). The benefit was consistent among the subtypes, including a 31% reduction in MIs with a peak troponin ≥1009 upper limit of normal (hazard ratio 0.69, 95% confidence interval 0.53–0.92, P=0.0096) and a 40% reduction in ST-segment elevation MI (hazard ratio 0.60, 95% confidence interval 0.46–0.78, P=0.0002). Conclusions: In stable outpatients with prior MI, the majority of recurrent MIs are spontaneous and associated with a high biomarker elevation. Ticagrelor reduces the MI consistently among subtypes and sizes including large MIs and ST-segment elevation MI

Dapagliflozin and cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND The cardiovascular safety profile of dapagliflozin, a selective inhibitor of sodium– glucose cotransporter 2 that promotes glucosuria in patients with type 2 diabetes, is undefined. METHODS We randomly assigned patients with type 2 diabetes who had or were at risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease to receive either dapagliflozin or placebo. The primary safety outcome was a composite of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or ischemic stroke. The primary efficacy outcomes were MACE and a composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure. Secondary efficacy outcomes were a renal composite (≥40% decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rate to <60 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area, new end-stage renal disease, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes) and death from any cause. RESULTS We evaluated 17,160 patients, including 10,186 without atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, who were followed for a median of 4.2 years. In the primary safety outcome analysis, dapagliflozin met the prespecified criterion for noninferiority to placebo with respect to MACE (upper boundary of the 95% confidence interval [CI], <1.3; P<0.001 for noninferiority). In the two primary efficacy analyses, dapagliflozin did not result in a lower rate of MACE (8.8% in the dapagliflozin group and 9.4% in the placebo group; hazard ratio, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.84 to 1.03; P=0.17) but did result in a lower rate of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure (4.9% vs. 5.8%; hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P=0.005), which reflected a lower rate of hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.61 to 0.88); there was no between-group difference in cardiovascular death (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.17). A renal event occurred in 4.3% in the dapagliflozin group and in 5.6% in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.87), and death from any cause occurred in 6.2% and 6.6%, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.04). Diabetic ketoacidosis was more common with dapagliflozin than with placebo (0.3% vs. 0.1%, P=0.02), as was the rate of genital infections that led to discontinuation of the regimen or that were considered to be serious adverse events (0.9% vs. 0.1%, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes who had or were at risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, treatment with dapagliflozin did not result in a higher or lower rate of MACE than placebo but did result in a lower rate of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure, a finding that reflects a lower rate of hospitalization for heart failure. (Funded by AstraZeneca; DECLARE–TIMI 58 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01730534.