title: Drug therapy to reduce early readmission risk in heart failure: ready for prime time?
abstract: Readmission for heart failure remains a major focus of policymakers, clinicians, and patients. Despite meeting key national performance measures and frequent use of evidence-based therapies, rates of 30-day post-discharge rehospitalization may be as high as 25%. Digoxin and mineralocorticoid antagonists are known to reduce admissions for heart failure, but are significantly underused in current clinical practice despite their proven benefits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Muthiah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaduganathan
authors.affiliation: Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center, Ronald Reagan-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Gregg C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Fonarow
authors.affiliation: Center for Cardiovascular Innovation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois. Electronic address: m-gheorghiade@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Mihai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gheorghiade
mesh_terms: D002316:Cardiotonic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004077:Digoxin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D000451:Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012306:Risk; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D000451:Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists; D004077:Digoxin
keywords: acute heart failure; digoxin; mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists; readmissions