BMJ  2006;332 (7 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7532.0-b

Clarithromycin in stable coronary heart disease may increase mortality

Short term treatment with the macrolide antibiotic clarithromycin in patients with stable coronary heart disease may raise the risk of dying of cardiovascular causes. In a randomised controlled multicentre trial by Jespersen and colleagues (p 22), more than 4300 patients with myocardial infarction or angina pectoris received either clarithromycin 500 mg/day or placebo for two weeks. All cause mortality was higher in the clarithromycin arm (hazard ratio 1.27, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.54), and patients in this group were significantly more likely to have died from cardiovascular causes (1.45, 1.09 to 1.92).

Credit: JOSH SHER/SPL

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