Pregabalin and heart failure: A population-based study

The anticonvulsant pregabalin is increasingly prescribed for pain, seizures, and psychiatric disorders. Although evidence suggests pregabalin can cause edema and heart failure, its cardiac safety profile in clinical practice is unknown. We sought to examine the risk of heart failure among older patients receiving pregabalin compared to those receiving gabapentin.

We conducted a population-based cohort study of Ontarians aged 66 and older with a history of seizure who received pregabalin or gabapentin between April 2013 and March 2014. We used propensity scores to match patients commencing pregabalin to those commencing gabapentin. The primary outcome was an emergency department visit or hospitalization for heart failure within 90 days.

We studied 9855 patients who initiated pregabalin and an equal number treated with gabapentin. In the primary analysis, we found no difference in the risk of heart failure with pregabalin compared to gabapentin (1.2% versus 1.3%, hazard ratio of 0.77; 95% CI 0.58-1.03). Secondary analyses stratified for baseline history of heart failure yielded similar findings.

In a large cohort of older patients with a seizure disorder, pregabalin was not associated with an increased risk of heart failure relative to gabapentin.