Evaluation of safety, effectiveness and treatment patterns of sodium zirconium cyclosilicate in management of hyperkalaemia in China: a real-world study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Hyperkalaemia (HK) is a potentially life-threatening electrolyte imbalance associated with several adverse clinical outcomes. The efficacy and negative effects of currently existing treatment options have made HK management questionable. Sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (SZC), a novel highly selective potassium binder, is approved for the treatment of HK. The present study will be aimed to assess the safety, effectiveness and treatment patterns of SZC in Chinese patients with HK in a real-world clinical setting as it is required by China's drug review and approval process. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a multicentre, prospective cohort study which plans to enrol 1000 patients taking SZC or willing to take SZC from approximately 40 sites in China. Patients ≥18 years of age at the time of signing the written informed consent and with documented serum potassium levels ≥5.0 mmol/L within 1 year before study enrolment day will be included. Eligible patients will receive SZC treatment and will be followed up for 6 months from enrolment day. The primary objective will be to evaluate the safety of SZC for the management of HK in Chinese patients in terms of adverse events (AEs), serious AEs as well as discontinuation of SZC. The secondary objectives will include understanding the SZC dosage information in terms of its effectiveness and treatment patterns under real-world clinical practice and assessing effectiveness of SZC during the observational period. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University (approval number: YJ-JG-YW-2020). All the participating sites have received the ethics approval. Results will be disseminated through national and international presentations and peer-reviewed publications. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05271266.