Metformin: safety in cardiac patients
Abstract
Metformin is a biguanide, insulin sensitiser that reduces blood sugar levels. There are concerns about the risk of lactic acidosis in patients receiving metformin who have procedures requiring iodinated contrast, and in those with renal impairment or heart failure. The data on which these concerns are based are reviewed, with the conclusion that metformin treatment is rarely to blame for lactic acidosis. A generic policy of stopping metformin 48 h before and 48 h after the procedure in all patients is counterintuitive, lacks any evidence base and does not conform to the principles of best practice. In patients with heart failure, although the underlying condition can predispose to lactic acidosis, existing evidence suggests that metformin use is associated with improved outcome rather than increased risk.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Metformin as an adjuvant in breast cancer treatment
- Metformin Lysosomal Targeting: A Novel Aspect to Be Investigated for Metformin Repurposing in Neurodegenerative Diseases?
- Aberrant HSF1 signaling activation underlies metformin amelioration of myocardial infarction in mice
- Metformin induces ZFP36 by mTORC1 inhibition in cervical cancer-derived cell lines
- Protein Interaction Network for Identifying Vascular Response of Metformin (Oral Antidiabetic)
- Preventing Long COVID With Metformin
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.