Unified definition of clinical trials end points

Unified definition of clinical trials end points I read with great interest the review by Gustafsson et al1 on maximizing scientific knowledge from randomized clinical trials. In addition to the thoughtful recommendations presented by the authors, another element that needs to be considered in the design of future cardiovascular clinical trials is the adoption of uniform definitions of end points including myocardial infarction, mode of death, and hospitalization for heart failure. The lack of unanimous definitions of end points undermines our ability to accurately compare the impact of an intervention to similar interventions across cardiovascular clinical trials.

Am Heart J 2010;160:e33. 0002-8703/$ - see front matter doi:10.1016/j.ahj.2010.07.027

Jalal K. Ghali, MD Detroit Medical Center Cardiovascular Institute Detroit, MI E-mail: [email protected]

Reference 1. Gustafsson F, Atar D, Pitt B, et al. Maximizing scientific knowledge from randomized clinical trials. Am Heart J 2010;159:937-43.