Association of testosterone replacement therapy with atrial fibrillation and acute kidney injury.

Background: Secondary analyses of the Testosterone Replacement Therapy for Assessment of Long-Term Vascular Events and Efficacy Response in Hypogonadal Men (TRAVERSE) trial revealed significantly higher rates of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) and acute kidney injury (AKI) in the testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) cohort.

Aim: To validate the secondary findings of the TRAVERSE trial.

Methods: We utilized the TriNetX Research Network to identify a cohort of men ages 45-80 years old who met similar inclusion criteria to the TRAVERSE trial. We compared hypogonadal men (testosterone 100-300 ng/dL) who had a prescription for topical testosterone therapy and men who did not. Propensity score matching was used to match patient populations. Kaplan Meier survival analysis was used to determine the relative risk of new-onset AF and AKI within 3 years.

Outcomes: New-onset AF and AKI within 3 years.

Results: There were 2134 men included in each cohort after propensity score matching. Men on TRT had significantly lower testosterone (T) at the time of diagnosis compared to men not prescribed TRT (207 ± 66 ng/dL vs 246 ± 140 ng/dL, P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a significantly increased risk of AKI among men on TRT (RR 1.53, 95% CI 1.07-2.18). However, TRT was not associated with a significantly increased risk of new-onset AF (RR 1.48, 95% CI 0.93-2.37).

Clinical implications: Hypogonadal men with underlying cardiovascular risk factors or pre-existing cardiovascular disease who receive TRT may be at increased risk of AKI after starting therapy.

Strengths and limitations: We evaluated a large global research database and utilized similar inclusion and exclusion to the TRAVERSE trial. However, our results are limited by the retrospective study design and reliance on documented claims data.

Conclusion: Similar to the TRAVERSE trial, our study demonstrated an increased risk of AKI among men on TRT, but did not find increased risk of AF. However, further studies are required to validate these results.