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Digoxin has long been used to control heart rate in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), but its effects on overall mortality are unclear. To explore this issue, researchers examined data on more than 122,000 patients (mean age, 72) with newly diagnosed AF who were treated in the Veterans Affairs health system between 2004 and 2008; about 23% of patients received digoxin within 90 days of diagnosis.
During follow-up of roughly 3 years, cumulative all-cause mortality was significantly higher among digoxin recipients than among nonrecipients (95 vs. 67 deaths per 1000 person-years), even after adjustment for important clinical variables and for differences between those who did and did not receive digoxin therapy (hazard ratio, 1.21). Resul…