The use of digoxin-specific Fab fragments for severe digitalis intoxication in children

Because life-threatening digitalis intoxication is unusual in children, treatment with digoxin-specific-antibody Fab fragments (Fab) has rarely been reported. We describe the efficacy of Fab in the treatment of children with severe digitalis intoxication.

Twenty-nine children with intoxication due to digoxin (28) or digitoxin (1) received Fab at 21 participating hospitals between 1974 and 1986. Data were gathered about the patients' medical illnesses, doses and serum concentrations of digitalis, responses to Fab therapy, and outcomes.

In the infants and young children with acute digoxin intoxication, the digoxin doses ranged from 0.30 to 0.96 mg per kilogram of body weight; two adolescents had severe intoxication after doses of only 0.20 and 0.26 mg per kilogram. The serum digoxin concentrations ranged from 3.0 to greater than 100 ng per milliliter (mean, 13.8). Atrioventricular block (present in 22 patients [76 percent]) was the most common sign of toxicity. All the patients in this series had severe disturbances of cardiac rhythm, hyperkalemia (mean serum potassium concentration, 5.4 mmol per liter), or both. In 27 patients (93 percent), digitalis toxicity resolved after the administration of Fab. Of the 19 patients for whom data were available on the timing of the response to Fab, 15 responded within 180 minutes. Three patients required retreatment with Fab. Seven died of complications unrelated to the administration of Fab.

We recommend that Fab be used in the treatment of digitalis poisoning in infants and young children who have ingested greater than or equal to 0.3 mg of digoxin per kilogram, who have underlying heart disease, or who have a serum digoxin concentration of greater than or equal to 6.4 nmol per liter (greater than or equal to 5.0 ng per milliliter) in the elimination phase; and who also have a life-threatening arrhythmia, hemodynamic instability, hyperkalemia, or rapidly progressive toxicity. Adolescents, who are more sensitive to the toxic effects of digoxin than younger children, may require treatment with Fab after ingesting lower doses.