The Rheumatologist
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
  • Technology
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • Events
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
    • From the College
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Arthritis & Rheumatology
    • Arthritis Care & Research
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Research Reviews
    • Annual Meeting
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
    • Rheumatology Image Bank
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Study Finds Newer Gout Drug Poses Risk to Heart Patients

Study Finds Newer Gout Drug Poses Risk to Heart Patients

March 12, 2018 • By Gene Emery

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

(Reuters Health)—Gout sufferers with major pre-existing heart disease face a higher risk of death if they are treated with the drug febuxostat, a large long-term study has concluded.

You Might Also Like
  • FDA Approves Duzallo for Hyperuricemia in Patients with Uncontrolled Gout
  • New Findings on Rheumatic Drug Therapies among Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis, Gout, SLE
  • Psoriatic Arthritis Linked to Increased Heart Disease Risk
Explore this issue
April 2018

The risk of death from cardiovascular disease was 34% higher with febuxostat than with allopurinol. When researchers considered deaths from any cause, the risk was 22% higher with febuxostat.

“The results are entirely unexpected and we don’t have a mechanistic explanation for them,” chief author Dr. William White of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine tells Reuters Health in an email.

The new study, known as CARES, was presented March 12 at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Orlando. The study also found that the rates of major cardiovascular events, such as a non-fatal heart attack, stroke, rhythm problems and hospitalization for heart failure, were comparable for the two drugs.

The full study has been published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.1

White said the vast majority—92.5%—are treated with allopurinol, while 7.5% take febuxostat, which is roughly 45 times more expensive, according to prices on goodrx.com.

“It is probable that physicians will be concerned about the results of this study and that could affect their prescribing habits in patients with cardiovascular disease and gout,” says White, who is professor of medicine at UConn’s Calhoun Cardiology Center in Farmington.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals, which sells febuxostat under the brand name Uloric, paid for the test, which was mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when the drug was approved in 2009. At the time, there was evidence suggesting that the drug was causing non-fatal cardiovascular problems.

Allopurinol has been around since 1966. It can sometimes cause kidney problems, particularly among African-Americans.

People with gout already face an elevated risk of cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease. The 6,190 volunteers enrolled in the study all had evidence of major cardiovascular disease, including a history of heart attack, stroke or hospitalization for unstable angina or a transient ischemic attack. Half of them remained in the study for at least 32 months.

Most patients didn’t stay on either drug—57.3% stopped taking febuxostat and 55.9% discontinued their allopurinol.

The rate of gout flares was 0.68 per patient per year with febuxostat and 0.63 with allopurinol.

White says another study, called the FAST trial, “is evaluating febuxostat versus allopurinol in gout patients without this high level of cardiovascular disease … This study will define cardiovascular safety of these drugs in lower risk patients.”

Pages: 1 2 Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions, Crystal Arthritis Tagged With: Allopurinol, Cardiovascular disease, Febuxostat, Gout, Heart Disease, strokeIssue: April 2018

You Might Also Like:
  • FDA Approves Duzallo for Hyperuricemia in Patients with Uncontrolled Gout
  • New Findings on Rheumatic Drug Therapies among Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis, Gout, SLE
  • Psoriatic Arthritis Linked to Increased Heart Disease Risk
  • FDA Reviewers Question Safety of AstraZeneca’s Gout Drug

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

ACR/ARP Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the ACR/ARP Meeting Abstracts site »

ACR/ARP Annual Meeting

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Annual Meeting site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2019 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.