Relationship between myocardial uptake and actions in heart failure of methyldigoxin

1 Problems have been encountered in recent years in confirming useful benefit to patients with heart failure and sinus rhythm from acute exposure to digitalis glycosides, though effectiveness of these preparations upon cardiac contractile performance is indisputable. Undesired effects such as those upon systemic vascular resistance have been invoked to explain this. 2 Detailed haemodynamic responses have been studied by cardiac catheterisation in nine such patients for 30 min after intravenous methyldigoxin infusion. Myocardial glycoside uptake was simultaneously assessed. 3 Methyldigoxin uptake by the heart was rapid, passing its peak within 20 min, and was followed by substantial elution. 4 A small progressive and significant increase in cardiac output was observed, though left ventricular filling pressures were not significantly reduced after methyldigoxin. Cardiac contractile function as assessed by left ventricular maximum dP/dt, measured in six patients, showed consistent improvement.