Effect of digoxin on NORMAL INDIVIDUAL ?
March 102010
What is the effect of a Therapeutic dose of digoxin in a NORMAL INDIVIDUAL on the …
1) CARDIAC OUTPUT
2) myocardial contractility
3) Peripheral blood vesicles
1) Digoxin does not alter cardiac output in normal individuals.
2) It does cause significant increase in contractility.
March 10th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
The main pharmacological effects of digoxin are on the heart. Extracardiac effects are responsible for many of the adverse effects.
Its main cardiac effects are
* A decrease of conduction of electrical impulses through the AV node, making it a commonly used antiarrhythmic agent in controlling the heart rate during atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter.
* An increase of force of contraction via inhibition of the Na+/K+ ATPase pump.
Charles Cullen admitted in 2003 to killing as many as 40 hospital patients with overdoses of heart medication–usually digoxin–at hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania over his 16-year career as a nurse. On March 10, 2006 he was sentenced to 18 consecutive life sentences and is not eligible for parole.
References :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digoxin
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682301.html
http://www.medicinenet.com/digoxin/article.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digoxin_toxicity
March 10th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
1) Digoxin does not alter cardiac output in normal individuals.
2) It does cause significant increase in contractility.
References :
Cardiac Nurse