ROCHESTER, MINN. ã Mayo Clinic is coordinating a new, multi-center study that will use advanced imaging techniques to determine whether taking appetite suppressants including fenfluramine-phentermine (fen-phen), dexfenfluramine (Redux) and/or other appetite suppressants is associated with the development of valvular heart disease. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, which markets the appetite suppressants Pondimin (fenfluramine) and Redux, will fund this study.
≥This is the follow-up study needed to confirm or refute the association that we observed and are reporting this week in the New England Journal of Medicine,≤ says Dr. Heidi Connolly, Mayo Clinic cardiologist and the new studyπs principal investigator.
In July, the New England Journal of Medicine asked Mayo Clinic to publicly announce a clinical observation of unusual valvular heart disease in 24 previously healthy women who had taken the weight-loss medications fenfluramine and phentermine (fen-phen). Physicians identified the patients in this report during routine medical visits. All 24 patients had cardiovascular symptoms or a heart murmur. Subsequent testing showed that one or more heart valves in each patient was thickened, and blood was regurgitating (or ≥leaking≤ backward), making the heart work harder to pump blood throughout the body. Five patients needed open heart surgery to repair or replace damaged, leaking valves. No patients in the report have died.
The new studyπs aim is to determine the prevalence of this unusual form of valvular heart disease in obese patients treated with appetite suppressants, including the fen-phen combination and Redux. More than 1,000 patients, both on and off appetite suppressants, will be evaluated. The study is projected to begin within the next month. Individuals interested in having an echocardiogram as part of this study can discuss this opportunity and get additional information by calling 507-266-8509. ###
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