LAUSR

For a drug to be effective for the treatment of heart failure, physicians must know who should receive it and how it should be started, titrated and maintained. In prescribing the foundational drugs for heart failure and a reduced ejection fraction, physicians rely on the protocol-specified eligibility criteria and guidance about the initiation and continuation of doses that reduced morbidity and mortality. The decision-making process is somewhat different if a drug is administered to achieve a physiological or biochemical effect. Diuretics alleviate fluid retention, and doses are individualized to achieve euvolaemia without worrisome azotaemia or electrolyte imbalances. Potassium supplements and binders are titrated to maintain serum potassium in a desired range. In both examples, the physiological or biochemical marker serves both as a trigger for treatment and as a guide to the titration of therapy.