Abstract
BACKGROUND: Sodium‒glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have been included in heart failure (HF) guidelines because of their benefits in reducing mortality and hospitalization rates. However, the timing and benefits of initiating SGLT2 inhibitors in patients after myocardial infarction (MI) remain controversial. Therefore, we aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing SGLT2 inhibitors with placebo in patients with MI. METHODS: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the impact of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with recent or previous MI. We systematically searched PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase for RCTs comparing SGLT2 inhibitors versus placebo in patients with MI. The primary outcome was (1) HF hospitalization. In this analysis, we also included the following secondary outcomes: (2) major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) defined as a composite of cardiovascular (CV) death, MI or stroke; and (3) all-cause mortality. A subgroup analysis was conducted for the primary outcome, comparing patients who had experienced an MI more than 8 weeks prior to study enrolment (previous MI) versus those who had experienced an MI within the preceding 8 weeks (acute MI). Risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled with a random effects model. RESULTS: Our meta-analysis included 10 RCTs comprising 22,266 patients, of whom 11,339 (51.2%) had type 2 diabetes. The mean age was 62 years, and the median follow-up was 21 months. According to the pooled analysis, HF hospitalization rates were lower in patients on SGLT2 inhibitors compared with placebo (RR 0.77; 95% CI 0.69, 0.85; p < 0.001)). Differences in MACE were also observed in favor of SGLT2 inhibitors versus placebo (RR 0.88; 95% CI 0.79, 0.97; p = 0.012). There was no statistically significant difference in all-cause mortality between the groups (RR 0.88; 95% CI 0.78, 1.00; p = 0.058). Benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors for the primary outcome were consistent regardless of the timing of last MI, with no treatment by subgroup interaction (p for interaction = 0.56). CONCLUSION: In this meta-analysis of patients who experienced MI, the administration of SGLT2 inhibitors was associated with lower rates of hospitalization for HF. In addition, the treatment effect of SGLT2 inhibitors was consistent regardless of whether they were started in the recent versus previous MI setting.