STUDIES OF THE BLOOD GASES IN A CASE OF PAROXYSMAL TACHYCARDIA

Abstract

During the progress of some studies of the blood gases in auricular fibrillation and after the restoration of the normal sinus mechanism by quinidin sulphate, by one of the authors,¹ a case of paroxysmal tachycardia came under observation and studies of the blood gases were made during the paroxysm and after the return to the normal rate. Barcroft, Bock and Roughton² have reported the only similar studies, with an attempt to determine the rate of blood flow and the cardiac output during a paroxysm and in the presence of the normal sinus mechanism. They found in two attacks of paroxysmal tachycardia that the volume output of the heart per minute decreased from one-half to one-third of the normal value, while the ventricular output fell to onesixth the normal amount. The degree of ischemia was particularly marked in the skin as shown by a marked discrepancy between the oxygen content of