In the study, titled CVD-REAL, 364 828 people were evaluated using records from hospitals in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the UK and the US. The primary endpoint, hospitalisation for heart failure, occurred in 961 people, with a hazard ratio of 0.61 (P<0.001) in SGLT2 inhibitor recipients. There were 1334 deaths from any cause, with a hazard ratio of 0.49 (P<0.001) in the SGLT2 group. There were no signs of significant heterogeneity across the countries, despite variations in demographics and prescribing practice between countries, suggesting that the cardiovascular benefits were likely to be a class effect.
The study, which was sponsored by AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of dapagliflozin, bodes well for the upcoming cardiovascular safety studies of canagliflozin (CANVAS, results of which are due to be published later in 2017) and dapagliflozin (DECLARE, due in 2019).
