THE METHOD of catheterization of the right side of the heart has made it practical to measure the cardiac output by the Fick principle in patients acutely ill with congestive failure. The purification of digitalis glucosides has made it safe to give a therapeutically effective dose of digitalis in a single intravenous injection. It is now possible in a few hours to make observations on the circulation before and after the drug has had its effect. Such observations are much easier to interpret than those made at intervals of one day or longer. The purpose of this paper is to report the data on changes in circulation produced by the intravenous administration of 1.6 mg. of lanatoside C in 22 patients with congestive heart failure.
METHOD
The patients were studied either immediately after their admission to the hospital or on the following morning. Food was withheld for twelve hours