AMSTERDAM – The low-dose digoxin may help reduce hospitalisations among patients with heart failure and could lower the risk of death, according to three new studies led by cardiologists at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) in the Netherlands.
The researchers said the findings could potentially influence future treatment guidelines and renew interest in digoxin, an older and relatively inexpensive medicine.
Heart failure is a serious and growing health concern in the Netherlands, with more than 500,000 people estimated to be living with the condition. The number is expected to rise in the coming years.
Heart failure occurs when the heart is unable to pump sufficient blood effectively around the body. The condition can cause symptoms including severe shortness of breath and fatigue, while many patients require repeated hospital treatment.
Modern heart failure treatment generally relies on four key groups of medicines, sometimes referred to by specialists as the “Fantastic Four.” Researchers have been examining whether adding low-dose digoxin as a fifth treatment could provide additional benefits.
One of the new studies involved nearly 1,000 heart failure patients treated at 43 medical centres across the Netherlands. Half of the participants received low-dose digoxin alongside their standard treatment, while the other half received a placebo.
After following the patients for nearly three years, researchers found that those taking low-dose digoxin had around 25% fewer hospitalisations due to worsening heart failure than those receiving the placebo.
The findings suggest that digoxin could have a renewed role in the treatment of some heart failure patients.
However, the researchers stressed that the medicine is not appropriate for everyone and that its use should be determined by a doctor based on an individual patient’s condition.
The studies were led by UMCG cardiologists Dirk Jan van Veldhuisen, Kevin Damman and Peter van der Meer.
The research findings were published in scientific journals, including Nature Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association, and were also presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Heart Failure Congress in Barcelona.
