The efficacy of vericiguat for heart failure: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Background: The efficacy of vericiguat was elusive for heart failure. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the efficacy of vericiguat for heart failure. Methods: PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases have been searched through October 2022 and we included randomized controlled trials reporting the effect of vericiguat versus placebo in patients with heart failure. Results: Four randomized controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis. Compared with placebo group for heart failure, vericiguat treatment was able to substantially improve the composite outcome of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalization (odds ratio [OR] = 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.78 to 0.97; P = .02), but unraveled no obvious impact on hospitalization for heart failure (OR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.79 to 1.00; P = .05), death from cardiovascular causes (OR = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.77 to 1.13; P = .48), death from any cause (OR = 0.96; 95% CI = 0.84 to 1.10; P = .56), adverse events (OR = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.84 to 1.08; P = .42) or serious adverse events (OR = 0.92; 95% CI = 0.82 to 1.02; P = .12). Conclusions: Vericiguat treatment may benefit to treat heart failure.