Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors and Cardiovascular Risk—Reply

In Reply: Dr Andersohn and colleagues suggest that the highest risks of cardiovascular events with celecoxib are seen in European study populations, where the CYP2C9*3 allele associated with slow metabolism of celecoxib (and by implication an increased risk of thrombosis) may occur with a frequency of as much as 16%. This is an interesting suggestion, but we can speculate that it may not be the most likely explanation for the heterogeneity observed in the study results.