Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Death: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Cardioprotective Efficacy of Semaglutide
Marino G, Aquilani S, Di Fusco SA, et al. (2026). Critical Pathways in Cardiology.
Summary
A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised, placebo-controlled trials of semaglutide. The authors searched PubMed, Embase and ClinicalTrials.gov to July 2026 and pooled 7 trials with 38,412 adults who had type 2 diabetes, overweight or obesity, or obesity-related heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Semaglutide reduced the risk of cardiovascular death by 17% compared with placebo (hazard ratio 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.72 to 0.95). The authors report that the reduction was consistent across those groups and for oral and injectable semaglutide, with low-to-moderate heterogeneity. Tests for publication bias were not significant. This pools existing trials; it is not a new trial.