Abacavir or ddI Therapy and MI Risk?

The FDA has issued an early communication citing the potential association between use of abacavir or ddI and increased risk for myocardial infarction (MI). The underlying data, reported first at the 15th Retrovirus Conference (ACC Mar 10 2008), come from the DAD study, which involves 33,347 HIV-infected patients living in North America, Europe, and Australia.

The specific findings of note were overall 90% and 49% increases in MI risk with use of abacavir and ddI, respectively. The increased risk was related to current use of the two drugs and was stable over time; 6 months after the drugs were stopped, the effect was not seen. Tenofovir and emtricitabine were not included in the analyses. Subsequent reviews of clinical databases by the make…