Febuxostat does not increase risks of CVD events, death

Use of febuxostat is safe and does not lead to a heightened risk of all-cause mortality, death from cardiovascular events (CVD), or CVD events, reports a recent study, adding that the medication is safe for the treatment of gout.

The authors sought to determine whether febuxostat use increased the risk of developing CVD events, cardiac death, and all-cause mortality in this meta-analysis. They searched relevant literature in several databases such as Medline (1 January 1966 to 29 February 2020), Web of Science, Embase (1 January 1974 to 29 February 2020), ClinicalTrials.gov, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials.

Manual searches were also carried out for references cited in the original studies and relevant review articles. All studies included in the meta-analysis were published in English.

Twenty studies met the eligibility criteria of the meta-analysis. Treatment with febuxostat did not result in an elevated risk of all-cause mortality (relative risk [RR], 0.87, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.57–1.32; p=0.51). No association was also found between febuxostat use and mortalities associated with CVD (RR, 0.84, 95 percent CI, 0.49–1.45; p=0.53). The study drug also did not increase CVD events among users (RR, 0.98, 95 percent CI, 0.83–1.16; p=0.83).

Of note, the probability of CVD events occurring among users did not appear to be dependent on febuxostat dose (RR, 1.04, 95 percent CI, 0.84–1.30; p=0.72).