[Isoproterenol in the emergency treatment of cardiac stimulus conduction]

Continuous infusion with isoproterenol (mean dose 2 mug/min) was carried out for periods of a few hours to a few days in 22 patients recurrent Adams-Stokes syncope. In all cases, an improvement leading to or in the direction of physiological cardio-circulatory conditions was noted. Undesired side-effects foreseeable as the result of beta-adrenergic stimulation were not observed. Isoproterenol is more active than metaproterenol and is to be preferred on this account. It is indicated in Adams-Stokes crises due to conduction disturbances when pacemakers cannot or should not be fitted, or as a prelude to their application.