Use of metformin in diabetic patients with heart failure and risk of mortality: a systematic review

Objective. To assess the risk of mortality of metformin compared to other antidiabetic drugs in patients with diabetes mellitus and heart failure. Design. Systematic review. Data sources. PUBMED, MEDLINE and SCIENCE DIRECT. Selection of studies. 43 related articles were found in English, of which 4 studies with a cohort-type design were selected, by meeting the inclusion criteria. Data extraction. Two researchers extracted the data and assessed the quality of the data. Results. Four studies were analyzed, which reported a greater benefit compared to other antidiabetics in total mortality: Josie MM Evans et al. with an OR: 0.67 (CI 0.51 to 0.88, P <0.05); David Aguilar et al. with a HR: 0.76 (CI 0.63 to 0.92, P <0.01); Arkadiusz Retwinski et al. with a HR: 0.85 (CI 0.81 to 0.89, p 0.023); and Brian A Bergmark et al. with an OR: 0.75 (CI 0.59-0.95, P> 0.10). Conclusions. There is sustained evidence that treatment alone or in combination with Metformin compared to other antidiabetic medication results in beneficial effects in terms of reduced mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus and concomitant heart failure.