Celebrex (celecoxib) does not raise the risk of heart attack to the extent that Vioxx (rofecoxib) does, according to an early online release from the Annals of Internal Medicine.

When it was shown that Vioxx increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, leading to the drug’s withdrawal from the world market, concerns were raised that other so-called COX-2 inhibitors, such as Celebrex, would pose similar dangers.

In the current report, which will appear in print next year, Dr. Stephen E. Kimmel and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia theorized that various COX-2 inhibitors may affect heart attack risk differently. To investigate, the researchers compared COX-2 inhibitor use between 1718 patients who suffered a heart attack and 6800 who did not.

People who used Vioxx were nearly three times more likely to experience a heart attack than those who used Celebrex, the authors report.

Kimmel’s group points out that several other studies suggest an increase in heart attack risk from Vioxx at higher doses or over longer periods of treatment. None of the studies that his group cited showed a similar risk from Celebrex.

“Further studies…are needed to fully understand the spectrum of effects of COX-2 inhibitors and potential differences among them,” the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, February 1, 2005.

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