It is known that type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and heart failure (HF) are correlated. However, the actual impact of one on the development or progression of the other remains poorly understood.

A new article published in the Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy reported that different classes of glucose-lowering therapies have exhibited varying impact on cardiovascular outcomes. It was stated that with increasing prevalence of concomitant HF and type-2 DM, HF outcomes serve as important endpoints in trials of glucose-lowering therapies.

This article elaborated on a literature search of recent cardiovascular outcome trials of glucose-lowering therapies, focusing on the availability and extent of ascertainment of data related to HF outcomes.

The findings indicated that although early cardiovascular outcome trials did not focus on HF events, these outcomes have been increasingly identified as meaningful end points in these contemporary cardiovascular outcome trials. Hence, it was recommended that the ascertainment of HF end point data must become routine and standardized.