Oral anti-diabetic agents have been associated with adverse cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes (DM2). We investigated
the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), congestive heart failure (CHF), and mortality using multivariable Cox models in
a retrospective cohort of 20,450 DM2 patients from our electronic health record (EHR). We observed no differences in CAD risk
among the agents. Metformin was associated with a reduced risk of CHF (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.64–0.91) and mortality (HR 0.54,
95% CI 0.46–0.64) when compared to sulfonylurea. Pioglitazone was also associated with a lower risk of mortality when compared
to sulfonylurea (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.43–0.81). No other significant differences were found between the oral agents. In conclusions,
our results did not identify an increased CAD risk with rosiglitazone in clinical practice. However, the results do reinforce
a possible increased risk of adverse events in DM2 patients prescribed sulfonylureas.
Keywords Rosiglitazone - Thiazolidinediones - Coronary artery disease - Congestive heart failure - Antidiabetic agents - Hypoglycemic agents - Mortality