Treatment with icosapent ethyl can help coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients reduce their risk of first and recurrent ischemic episodes, according to new data published in Circulation.
Researchers set out to examine why, even after so many advances in surgery and pharmacotherapy over the years, there is still a significant residual ischemic risk after CABG. They focused on 1,837 patients from the REDUCE-IT trial, including 897 who were treated with icosapent ethyl and another 940 who were treated with a placebo.
Nearly 85% of patients were male, and the median patient age was 66 years old. Baseline characteristics were comparable between the two treatment groups.
Overall, randomization to icosapent ethyl was linked with a "significant reduction" in the risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, coronary revascularization or hospitalization for unstable angina.
The authors found that this produced an absolute risk reduction of 6.2%.
On the other hand, patients given icosapent ethyl were more likely to experience atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter that required hospitalization for at least 24 hours.
Even with that one detail in mind, however, the study's authors see potential in icosapent ethyl as a key treatment in the years ahead.
"These data support the consideration of icosapent ethyl as an important adjunct therapy for secondary prevention of adverse cardiac outcomes in patients post CABG," wrote lead author Subodh Verma, MD, PhD, with the division of cardiac surgery at the University of Toronto, and colleagues.
Read the full study here.