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VIDEO: New study emphasizes avoidance of digoxin in patients with AF
WASHINGTON — In this Cardiology Today video perspective, Renato D. Lopes, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center, provides investigator insight on a study that analyzed digoxin treatment in patients with atrial fibrillation.
Lopes and colleagues evaluated digoxin use among 18,000 patients enrolled in the ARISTOTLE trial. Data presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session demonstrated increased risk for death among patients receiving digoxin at baseline and an even higher risk for those who initiated digoxin during the ARISTOTLE trial, he said.
Moreover, digoxin initiation was independently associated with higher mortality in patients with AF, regardless of HF status, he said.
“Digoxin should generally be avoided in patients with AF, particularly if the symptoms can be alleviated without that treatment,” Lopes said.
Additionally, in patients who are already taking digoxin and whose health care providers deem it a necessary treatment, monitoring concentrations of the drug and targeting concentrations < 1.2 ng/mL may be an effective method for controlling negative outcomes, he said.