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Initial combination therapy with ambrisentan + tadalafil on pulmonary arterial hypertension‒related hospitalization in the AMBITION trial

Vachiéry JL, Galiè N, Barberá JA, Frost AE, Ghofrani HA, Hoeper MM, McLaughlin VV, Peacock AJ et al.

The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, 2019

9 participants · 28 citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND

In the randomized, double-blind, event-driven AMBITION study, initial combination therapy with ambrisentan and tadalafil was associated with a 50% reduction in risk of clinical failure (first occurrence of all-cause death, hospitalization for worsening pulmonary arterial hypertension [PAH], disease progression, or unsatisfactory long-term clinical response) vs pooled monotherapy. These results were primarily driven by a reduction in PAH-related hospitalization in the combination therapy group, although a significant effect was not observed in a post-hoc analysis of all-cause hospitalization.

METHODS

The effect of initial combination therapy with ambrisentan and tadalafil in AMBITION was further explored to study PAH-related hospitalization, which was not reported in the primary publication.

RESULTS

Initial combination therapy was associated with a 63% reduction in risk of PAH-related hospitalization when compared with pooled monotherapy (hazard ratio [HR] 0.372, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.217 to 0.639, p = 0.0002). For every 9 patients treated with combination therapy vs monotherapy, 1 PAH-related hospitalization could be prevented over a 1-year period. Serious adverse events leading to hospitalization, not necessarily PAH-related, occurred in 87 of 253 (34%) and 89 of 247 (36%) of patients on combination therapy and pooled monotherapy, respectively (post-hoc summary).

CONCLUSIONS

Initial combination therapy with ambrisentan and tadalafil was found to reduce…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 9 participants or records.

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