Dekker grant for Jozine ter Maaten
Jozine ter Maaten receives Dekker grant to improve the treatment of patients with acute heart failure.
The Dutch Heart Foundation awarded Jozine ter Maaten a Dekker grant for clinical scientists. The Dekker grants are research grants which are rewarded to talented scientists on an annual basis. With her grant, dr. ter Maaten will study a novel approach to treatment in patients with acute heart failure. In these patients fluid accumulation leads to dyspnea, edema and ultimately hospitalization for acute heart failure. At the moment, there is only one available therapy for acute heart failure, namely the administration of loop diuretics, and a great number of patients do not respond adequately to this therapy. By assessing urinary sodium at specific time points starting shortly after initiation of loop diuretic therapy, dr. ter Maaten will assess response to therapy and adjust therapy if necessary. The aim of this study is to improve decongestion and ultimately outcomes in these severely diseased patients.
“Remarkably, the treatment of acute heart failure has remained unchanged over the last decades despite poor outcomes. With the support of the Dutch Heart Foundation I will study a simple method to identify response and improve treatment in acute heart failure patients which has the potential to significantly improve outcomes and have a direct impact on the current standard of care around the world.”
