digitoxin and Alcoholism

Depletion of K and Mg appears to play a significant role in the ventricular tachyarrhythmias seen in alcoholic patients, patients treated with diuretics and/or patients with digitalis toxicity. A therapeutic strategy is suggested by the observation that hypokalemic patients have a 38-42% incidence of concurrent hypomagnesemia: that Mg as well as K should be replenished in all hypokalemic patients who suffer from alcoholism or who are receiving diuretics and/or digitalis because of the ventricular tachyarrhythmias which accompany these clinical states. Routine serum Mg determination will contribute significantly towards identifying patients at risk for cardiac arrhythmias due to Mg depletion.

Topics: Alcoholism; Animals; Arrhythmias, Cardiac; Digitalis; Diuretics; Electrocardiography; Humans; Magnesium; Magnesium Deficiency; Plants, Medicinal; Plants, Toxic; Potassium Deficiency; Rats

Topics: Alcoholism; Cardiomegaly; Cell Membrane Permeability; Diagnosis, Differential; Diet Therapy; Digitalis; Diuretics; Electrocardiography; Electrolytes; Ethanol; Heart Conduction System; Heart Diseases; Heart Failure; Humans; Mitochondria; Myofibrils; Nutrition Disorders; Plants, Medicinal; Plants, Toxic; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome; Thiamine; Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome

Topics: Acidosis; Adult; Alcoholism; Beriberi; Blood Gas Analysis; Blood Pressure; Cardiac Output; Cardiomyopathies; Cyanosis; Diagnosis, Differential; Digitoxin; Electrocardiography; Heart Failure; Heart Rate; Humans; Hyperventilation; Lactates; Male; Morphine; Oxygen; Oxygen Consumption; Pyruvates; Respiration; Thiamine; Vascular Resistance