MACE
Also: major adverse cardiovascular events
In plain language
A combined measure of serious heart problems — usually heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death — used to judge whether a drug helps or harms the heart.
Technical definition
A composite cardiovascular outcome, most commonly the three-point endpoint of non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, and cardiovascular death, used as a primary endpoint in cardiovascular outcome trials.
MACE is the standard yardstick in cardiovascular outcome trials. Several GLP-1 receptor agonists have shown reductions in MACE, which is why some are approved specifically to lower cardiovascular risk in addition to controlling blood sugar.