Publications by authors named "K Wallendszus"

Article Synopsis
  • The EMPA-KIDNEY trial examined the effects of empagliflozin, an SGLT2 inhibitor, on patients with chronic kidney disease at risk for progression, assessing outcomes during and after the trial.
  • A total of 6609 patients were randomized, with 4891 participating in a follow-up period after the trial where they were observed for an additional 2 years, without trial medication but allowed to use other SGLT2 inhibitors.
  • Results showed that fewer primary outcome events (like kidney disease progression or cardiovascular death) occurred in the empagliflozin group (26.2%) compared to the placebo group (30.3%), suggesting lasting benefits of the drug even after the trial ended. *
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Background: Randomised trials are essential to reliably assess medical interventions. Nevertheless, interpretation of such studies, particularly when considering absolute effects, is enhanced by understanding how the trial population may differ from the populations it aims to represent.

Methods: We compared baseline characteristics and mortality of RECOVERY participants recruited in England (n = 38,510) with a reference population hospitalised with COVID-19 in England (n = 346,271) from March 2020 to November 2021.

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Background: Findings from cardiovascular outcome trials suggest that fenofibrate therapy may reduce the progression of diabetic retinopathy.

Methods: We recruited and followed adults with nonreferable diabetic retinopathy or maculopathy using the national Diabetic Eye Screening (DES) program in Scotland. We randomly assigned participants to receive 145-mg fenofibrate tablets or placebo (taken daily or, in those with impaired renal function, on alternate days).

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Background: Aspirin and omega-3 fatty acids (FAs) have potential disease-modifying roles in diabetic retinopathy (DR) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but randomized evidence of these effects is limited. We present the rationale and baseline characteristics of ASCEND-Eye, a sub-study of the double-blind, 2x2 factorial design, randomized placebo-controlled ASCEND (A Study of Cardiovascular Events iN Diabetes) trial of 100 mg aspirin daily and, separately, 1g omega-3 FAs daily for the primary prevention of serious cardiovascular events, in 15,480 British adults, aged 40 years or older with diabetes.

Methods: Eye events will be derived from three sources: 1) participant follow-up questionnaires from ASCEND, 2) electronic NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP) data and 3) responses to the National Eye Institute's Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI-VFQ-25) sent to a subset of participants after the main trial ended.

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Objective: To assess how reliable UK routine data are for ascertaining major bleeding events compared with adjudicated follow-up.

Methods: The ASCEND (A Study of Cardiovascular Events iN Diabetes) primary prevention trial randomised 15 480 UK people with diabetes to aspirin versus matching placebo. The primary safety outcome was major bleeding (including intracranial haemorrhage, sight-threatening eye bleeding, serious gastrointestinal bleeding and other major bleeding (epistaxis, haemoptysis, haematuria, vaginal and other bleeding)) ascertained by direct-participant mail-based follow-up, with >90% of outcomes undergoing adjudication.

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