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Trial, not randomized · measured the question itself

Trial subgroup of 1,837 adults with earlier bypass surgery: icosapent ethyl lowered heart events

Verma and colleagues · Circulation · 2021

Original title: Icosapent Ethyl Reduces Ischemic Events in Patients With a History of Previous Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: REDUCE-IT CABG.

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What the study found

Points to benefit

Main heart events fell (hazard ratio [HR], 0.76 [95% CI, 0.63-0.92]). Hospital stays for atrial fibrillation or flutter were higher: 5.0% vs 3.1% (P=0.03). Bleeding rose slightly, within chance.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Trial, not randomized
Who or what was studied
1,837 people · adults on statins with high triglycerides who had earlier heart bypass surgery
What was tested
Icosapent ethyl 4 g a day versus placebo, median 4.8 years (a subgroup of REDUCE-IT)
What it measured
The question itself: heart attacks, strokes and heart deaths
Daily amount
4 g a day
How long
250 weeks
Trial registration
NCT01492361
Who has a stake
No disclosure in PubMed
No disclosure in PubMed. The parent trial was funded by Amarin.
Journal
Circulation, 2021
Source
PubMed record 34710343. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • –Not randomized: the groups may differ in ways that affect the result.
  • ✓Compared with a placebo, a dummy treatment.
  • ✓Large: 1,837 people.
  • ✓Long: about 4.8 years.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: heart attacks, strokes and heart deaths.
  • •The PubMed record has no conflict-of-interest statement.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: heart attacks, strokes and heart deaths

    11

    7 benefit, 4 no difference

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    3

    1 benefit, 2 no difference

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does fish oil prevent heart disease?”

Little or no effect in most trials.

Confidence: moderate. Based on 21 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 10 papers on the same step: 6 benefit, 4 no difference. This one found benefit. It agrees with most of them.

Other papers on the same step

See all 21 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The reviewer corrected 1 field after reading the abstract. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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