Professor Thomas Feuerstein | Using Mathematical Modelling to Understand Acute Heart Failure Treatment

Heart failure is more common in older people, particularly in those who have high blood pressure or have previously had a heart attack. Symptoms of heart failure include being tired and out of breath, as well as fluid building up in the feet and legs.

There is currently no cure for heart failure, but treatments can ease the symptoms and improve patients’ quality of life. Treatments include surgery, fitting a pacemaker, and certain medications.

Professor Thomas Feuerstein is a medical doctor and scientist at University Hospital Freiburg in Germany. He has conducted research to understand the underlying mechanisms of drugs used for the treatment of heart failure.

A key treatment for several types of cardiovascular disease is beta-blockers – these drugs bind to receptors in the heart and decrease the rate at which it beats. There has been concern about using beta-blockers for acute heart failure, because they can also decrease the strength of the heart’s contractions. A drug called Landiolol is currently the most effective beta-blocker used to treat a rapid heart rate – called tachycardia – in patients with cardiac dysfunction. It is prescribed in combination with other drugs that increase the strength of heart contractions.

Professor Feuerstein used mathematical modelling to understand the mechanism of action of these drugs. Mathematical modelling is the process of using existing knowledge and mathematical formulas to represent real-world scenarios – it is commonly used to make predictions about what will happen in biological systems when conditions change.

He found that when patients are given a combination of Landiolol and beta-1-receptor agonists, Landiolol may increase the strength of heart contractions in patients with acute heart failure. His predicted dose range matches that currently used in intensive care units and proposed by the European Society of Cardiology Guidelines.

The super-selective binding of Landiolol to beta-1 receptors means that this medication can have a strong positive impact on the management of tachycardia in patients with heart failure, without affecting other bodily functions.

Professor Feuerstein’s findings further our knowledge of how Landiolol works to manage acute heart failure. With this information, doctors and scientists will have a better understanding of how it can be used in conjunction with other drugs to improve treatment. This study will also alleviate concerns about using Landiolol for the treatment of acute heart failure, allowing patients to have more treatment options.