Use of patiromer and sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS) to treat hyperkalemia is associated with a reduction in emergency department visits, according to new study findings presented at the National Kidney Foundation’s 2019 Spring Clinical Meetings in Boston.
In addition, the study showed that patiromer use is associated with a reduction in hospitalizations.
In a large cohort of mostly male veterans with nondialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD), heart failure, or diabetes who experienced hyperkalemia, 10,122 received SPS (typical starting dose 15 g) and 288 received patiromer (typical starting dose 8.4 g). Patiromer appeared to be used more for chronic treatment and SPS for episodic treatment, Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD, FASN, of the University of Tennessee in Memphis, and colleagues reported. The median days of dispensed medication were 30 for patiromer and 3 for SPS. In addition, patiromer was filled twice as often as SPS. The median proportion of days covered (PDC) was 44% for patiromer and 2% for SPS.
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The investigators evaluated 2 exposure classification groups: intent-to-treat (ITT) and continuous exposure (CE). At 6 months, patiromer ITT was associated with a significant 11.1% decrease in ED visits and 6.5% decrease in hospitalizations. SPS ITT was associated with a significant 5.2% decrease in ED visits and non-significant decrease in hospitalizations. Patiromer CE and SPS CE were not significantly associated with ED visits or hospitalizations.
The study was funded by Relypsa, the manufacturers of patiromer (Veltassa).
Reference
Kovesdy CP, Gosmanova EO, Woods SD, et al. Emergency department visits and hospitalizations in US veterans with hyperkalemia. Poster presented at the National Kidney Foundation’s 2019 Spring Clinical Meetings in Boston, May 8-12, 2019. Poster 321.
