Digoxin: Immunologic Approaches to Measurement and Reversal of Toxicity

Abstract

THE clinical use of digitalis is accompanied by a distressingly high prevalence of toxic manifestations, the most serious of which are arrhythmias and disturbances of conduction.^{1 , 2} Many factors contribute to the development of digitalis toxicity (Table 1). Perhaps the most important is the accumulation of excessive amounts of digitalis in the body and in the myocardium in particular.Although excessive digitalis accumulation occasionally reflects excessive dosage, it is more commonly due to diminished excretion. Largely as a result of the studies of Doherty^{3 4 5 6 7} and of Marcus^{8 9 10} and their collaborators, much has recently been learned about the factors that lead to . . .