• Ferrán Catalá-López, Inmaculada Corrales, César de la Fuente-Honrubia, Diana González-Bermejo, Gloria Martín-Serrano, Dolores Montero, and Saint-GeronsDiego MacíasDMDivision of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance, Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios (AEMPS), Madrid, Spain..
• Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance, Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios (AEMPS), Madrid, Spain; Fundación Instituto de Investigación en Servicios de Salud, Valencia, Spain. Electronic address: ferran_catala@hotmail.com.
• Med Clin (Barc). 2015 Dec 21; 145 (12): 511-9.

Background And ObjectiveRomiplostim and eltrombopag are thrombopoietin receptor (TPOr) agonists that promote megakaryocyte differentiation, proliferation and platelet production. In 2012, a systematic review and meta-analysis reported a non-statistically significant increased risk of thromboembolic events for these drugs, but analyses were limited by lack of statistical power. Our objective was to update the 2012 meta-analysis examining whether TPOr agonists affect thromboembolism occurrence in adult thrombocytopenic patients.Materials And MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Updated searches were conduced on PubMed, Cochrane Central, and publicly available registries (up to December 2014). RCTs using romiplostim or eltrombopag in at least one group were included. Relative risks (RR), absolute risk ratios (ARR) and number needed to harm (NNH) were estimated. Heterogeneity was analyzed using Cochran's Q test and I(2) statistic.ResultsFifteen studies with 3026 adult thrombocytopenic patients were included. Estimated frequency of thromboembolism was 3.69% (95% CI: 2.95-4.61%) for TPOr agonists and 1.46% (95% CI: 0.89-2.40%) for controls. TPOr agonists were associated with a RR of thromboembolism of 1.81 (95% CI: 1.04-3.14) and an ARR of 2.10% (95% CI: 0.03-3.90%) meaning a NNH of 48. Overall, we did not find evidence of statistical heterogeneity (p=0.43; I(2)=1.60%).ConclusionsOur updated meta-analysis suggested that TPOr agonists are associated with a higher risk of thromboemboembolic events compared with controls, and supports the current recommendations included in the European product information on this respect.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

41 keywords...

hide…