Professor Dirk van Veldhuisen

Dirk J Van Veldhuisen is Professor of Cardiology at the University Medical Center in Groningen, The Netherlands. His main interest is Heart Failure, ie. its pathofysiology and treatment and he has been involved in many large trials. He has been interested in digoxin for more than 35 years, and was inspired by the late Dr. Mihai Gheorghiade. Dr Van Veldhuisen is the PI of the DECISION trial, examing the efficacy and safety of low-dose digoxin. Recently, the main results of DECISION and a withdrawal study, as well as a meta-analysis of digitalis glycosides in heart failure were published. Additional substudies from DECISION will provide new evidence regarding the effect of (low-dose) digoxin in women (vs men) and atrial fibrillation (vs sinus rhythm), but also on maintaining target (low-dose) serum digoxin concentrations, cost-effectiveness, and influence of baseline demographics (such as LV ejection fraction and renal function), and background medication.