Debate: Are surrogate end-point studies worth the effort?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Surrogate end-points of cardiovascular disease can provide useful information in cross-sectional, prospective and interventional studies. They provide information on association with risk factors, natural history and factors associated with disease progression. B...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Elkeles Robert S, Valabhji Jonathan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2000-09-01
Series:Current Controlled Trials in Cardiovascular Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:http://cvm.controlled-trials.com/content/1/1/072
Description
Summary:<p>Abstract</p> <p>Surrogate end-points of cardiovascular disease can provide useful information in cross-sectional, prospective and interventional studies. They provide information on association with risk factors, natural history and factors associated with disease progression. Because every participant can reach an end-point, sufficient power can be attained with much smaller numbers of subjects in surrogate end-point studies than in studies that use clinical endpoints, so that the costs are likely to be substantially less. Measures of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) by B-mode ultrasonography and of coronary calcification by electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) appear to be the most promising surrogate end-points.</p>
ISSN:1468-6708