Digoxin in Patients With Symptomatic Rheumatic Heart Disease

Does digoxin, compared with placebo, reduce the composite of all-cause death or new-onset or worsening heart failure in symptomatic rheumatic heart disease?In this randomized clinical trial that included 1769 participants, digoxin, 0.125 to 0.25 mg/d added to usual care, compared with placebo, significantly reduced the risk of a composite of all-cause death or new-onset or worsening heart failure (31.4% vs 35.5%, respectively; hazard ratio, 0.82).The results of this trial, taken together with evidence from previous trials of digoxin, suggest that digoxin may be safely used in young patients with rheumatic heart disease to prevent heart failure worsening.

Corresponding Author: Ganesan Karthikeyan, MD, DM, MSc, Department of Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Sciences Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India (karthik2010@gmail.com).

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