February 17th, 2010
Wednesday, February 17 News Roundup: Statins & Diabetes; ARTS II at 5 Years
Larry Husten, PHD
Statins & Diabetes: Following the recent observation from JUPITER of an increased risk of developing diabetes among patients taking rosuvastatin, a large meta-analysis in the Lancet by Sattar et al. has found a small but significant increase in the risk of diabetes for all statins. The authors conclude that “the risk is low both in absolute terms and when compared with the reduction in coronary events.” An accompanying comment by Chris Cannon points out that “the benefit in preventing total vascular events to the risk of diabetes is a ratio of about 9:1 in favor of the cardiovascular benefit — the benefit seems to greatly outweigh the risk.”
ARTS II at 5 Years: The ARTS II (Arterial Revascularization Therapies Study II) enrolled 607 patients who received a sirolimus-eluting stent (SES). These patients were then compared with 1205 historical controls from the ARTS I trial who had been randomized to either CABG or a bare metal stent. Serruys and colleagues report the 5-year clinical outcomes in an expedited publication in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Having acknowledged the limitations of a nonrandomized comparison with historical controls, the authors report that “SES had a safety record comparable to CABG and superior to BMS, and a MACCE rate that was higher than in patients treated with CABG, and lower than in those treated with BMS.”
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