This Article Full Text Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by SoRelle, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by SoRelle, R.

(Circulation. 2004;109:e9039-e9040.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiovascular News

Ruth SoRelle, MPH

Circulation Newswriter

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Refecoxib Use Increases Acute Myocardial Infarction Risk

Use of refecoxib was associated with a higher relative risk of acute myocardial infarction among elderly subjects than was the use of celecoxib in a study reported in this week’s issue of the journal Circulation ( Circulation. 2004;109:2068–2073[Abstract/Free Full Text]). However, the risk was elevated only in the first 90 days of use, said the researchers led by Daniel H. Solomon, MD, MPH, of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.

Both drugs are common versions of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors developed as substitutes for nonsteroidal antiinflammatory medications. The cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors appear to have a less deleterious effect on the gastrointestinal lining than do the nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs known as NSAIDs. Dr Solomon and his colleagues said that there have been concerns about the cardiovascular safety of the use of such drugs in older patients. For that reason, they decided to look at risk of acute myocardial infarction in Medicare patients who used celecoxib, rofecoxib, and NSAIDs. The subjects all had a comprehensive drug benefit that indicated use of the prescribed medications.

The matched case-control study involved 54 475 patients who received medications through 2 state-sponsored drug benefit programs. A total of 10 895 acute myocardial infarctions were identified and then matched to controls. The researchers attempted to assess the relative risk of myocardial infarction in patients who used rofecoxib compared with those who took no NSAID, those who took celecoxib, and those who took NSAIDs.

They found that current use of refecoxib was associated with an . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Fosslien Cardiovascular Complications of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Ann. Clin. Lab. Sci., October 1, 2005; 35(4): 347 - 385. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]