Among patients with high blood pressure and heart disease, researchers  sought to determine if use of anti-inflammatory  (NSAIDS such as Motrin, Advil, Aleve, Naproxyn) medications cause and increase risk of adverse events during long–term follow–up.

This was a post hoc analysis from the International Verapamil Trandolapril Study (INVEST), which enrolled patients with hypertension and coronary artery disease. During each office visit, the patients were asked if they were currently taking NSAIDs.

Patients who reported NSAID use at every visit were defined as chronic NSAID users, while all others (occasional or never users) were defined as non- NSAID users.

The primary composite outcome was all–cause death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke.

There were 882 chronic NSAID users and 21,694 non-NSAID users.

At an average follow–up of 2.7 years, the primary outcome occurred at a rate of 4.4 events per 100 patient–years in the chronic NSAID group, versus 3.7 events per 100 patient–years in the group not taking NSAIDs. The elevated death rate  was due to an increase in cardiovascular mortality.

Source: American Journal of Medicine