ObjectivesTo systematically review the risk of arterial ischemic and metabolic adverse events in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were searched to collect clinical trials, observational studies and case reports of adverse events in CML patients treated with TKIs from inception to February 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, then, meta-analysis was performed by using Stata 12.0 software.ResultsA total of 22 studies involving 4 223 patients were included. The incidence rates of ischemic heart disease in any grade were 2 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 2 to 3) for nilotinib, and 0 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 0 to 3) for imatinib. The incidence of ischemic heart disease in grade 3 or 4 was 1 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 0 to 2) for nilotinib. The incidence of peripheral arterial occlusive disease in any grade was 2 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 0 to 14) for nilotinib, and 0 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 0 to 2) for imatinib. The incidence of hypertension in any grade was 1 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 0 to 3) for nilotinib, and 44 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 27 to 71) for ponatinib. The incidence of hypertension in grade 3 or 4 was 2 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 0 to 15) for nilotinib, and 22 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 8 to 58) for ponatinib. The incidence of hyperlipidemia in any grade was 17 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 5 to 59) for nilotinib. The incidence of hyperglycemia in any grade was 11 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 9 to 15) for nilotinib, 2 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 1 to 4) for imatinib, 1 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 0 to 5) for dasatinib, and 19 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 19 to 20) for bosutinib. The incidence of hyperglycemia in grade 3 or 4 was 4 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 3 to 5) for nilotinib, and 1 per 100 patient-years (95%CI 1 to 2) for bosutinib.ConclusionsPatients treated with nilotinib have a greater possibility of ischemic heart and peripheral arterial occlusive disease compared with patients treated with imatinib. Patients treated with ponatinib have a high incidence rate of hypertension, and patients treated with nilotinib have a high incidence rate of hyperlipidemia. Patients treated with bosutinib and nilotinib have higher risk of hyperglycemia compared with patients treated with imatinib or dasatinib.