WEDNESDAY, April 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Empagliflozin does not reduce the risk for first hospitalization for heart failure or death among patients at increased risk for heart failure after acute myocardial infarction, according to a study published online April 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held from April 6 to 8 in Atlanta.

Javed Butler, M.D., M.P.H., from the Baylor Scott and White Research Institute in Dallas, and colleagues randomly assigned patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction who were at risk for heart failure to empagliflozin 10 mg daily or placebo in addition to standard care within 14 days after admission (3,260 and 3,262 patients, respectively).

The researchers found that a first hospitalization for heart failure or death from any cause occurred in 8.2 and 9.1 percent of patients in the empagliflozin and placebo groups, respectively, during a median follow-up of 17.9 months (incidence rates, 5.9 and 6.6 events, respectively, per 100 patient-years; hazard ratio, 0.90; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.76 to 1.06; P = 0.21). A first hospitalization for heart failure occurred in 3.6 and 4.7 percent of patients in the empagliflozin and placebo groups, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.77; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.60 to 0.98), and death from any cause occurred in 5.2 and 5.5 percent, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.96; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.78 to 1.19). Adverse events were consistent with the known safety profile for empagliflozin.

“Empagliflozin did not reduce the risk of the composite primary end point event — a first hospitalization for heart failure or death from any cause — in patients with acute myocardial infarction who were at increased risk for heart failure,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, which manufacture empagliflozin and funded the study.

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