Intennittent maintenance dose digoxin treating patients with congestive heart failure in sinus rhythm

Objective To explore the curative effects and safety of intermittent maintenance dose digoxin treating patient with congestive heart failure in sinus rhythm. Methods 115 cases of congestive heart failure with sinus rhythm were randomly divided into A group and B group. A group(58 cases) was treated by intermittent maintenance dose digoxin. B group (57 cases) was treated by continuous maintenance dose digoxin. All patients were observed for 6 months.Results A group was compared with B group for the left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) and heart rate (HR) before treatment and 3 th, 6th month after treatment.LVEF was respectively 0.37 ±0.13,0.42 ±0.12,0.45 ±0.13 in A group and 0.37 ±0.14,0.42±0.11,0.44 ±0.14 in B group; HR was 97 ±14,76±15,75±13 in A group and 101 ±11,76±13,76±15 in B group.There were difference significantly between before treatment and after treatment in two groups ( P 0.01) . No significant difference was found between A group and B group for before treatment and after treatment( P 0.05) . But, significant differences were found for digoxin overload or toxication in group A lower than those in group B(3.5% vs 12.3% , P 0.01).Conclusion The results show intermittent maintenance dose digoxin therapy may be effective and safe for patients with congestive heart failure in sinus rhythm.