Comparison of landiolol and digoxin as an intravenous drug for controlling the heart rate in patients with atrial fibrillation and severely depressed left ventricular function

Abstract

Clinical experience with landiolol use in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and a severely depressed left ventricular (LV) function is limited. We compared the efficacy and safety of landiolol with that of digoxin as an intravenous drug in controlling the heart rate (HR) during AF associated with a very low LV ejection fraction (LVEF). We retrospectively analyzed 53 patients treated with landiolol (n = 34) or digoxin (n = 19) for AF tachy-cardias with an LVEF ≤25. The landiolol dose was adjusted between 0.5 and 10 μg/kg/minute according to the patient’s condition. The response to treatment was defined as a decrease in the HR of ≤110/minute, and that decreased by ≥20% from baseline. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding the clinical characteristics. The re-sponder rate to landiolol at 24 hours was significantly higher than that to digoxin (71.0% versus 41.2%; odds ratio: 4.65, 95% confidence interval: 1.47-31.0, P = 0.048). The percent decrease in the HR from baseline at 1, 2, 12, and 24 hours was greater in the landiolol group than in the digoxin group (P < 0.01, P = 0.071, P = 0.036, and P = 0.016, respectively). The systolic blood pressure (SBP) from baseline within 24 hours after administering landiolol was significantly reduced, whereas digoxin did not decrease the SBP over time. Hypoten-sion (< 80 mmHg) occurred in two patients in the landiolol group and 0 in the digoxin group (P = 0.53). Landiolol could be more effective in controlling the AF HR than digoxin even in patients with severely depressed LV function. However, careful hemodynamic monitoring is necessary when administering landiolol.