Clinical Studies of Quinidin

In the treatment of certain of the cardiac irregularities, particularly auricular fibrillation, quinidin sulphate is, at times, a useful agent in altering the cardiac mechanism.¹A number of untoward effects have been noted in patients receiving this drug, and several fatalities have been ascribed to its use. It is of interest to inquire as to what has been the clinical experience with this alkaloid in the past, and it is important properly to evaluate the significance of the accidents that have more recently followed its administration. HISTORICAL The alkaloid quinidin was first isolated by van Heijningen²in 1849 from a substance called chinoidin, a by-product in the preparation of quinin. He described it under the name "beta-chinin." In 1853, Pasteur³prepared the same drug, perhaps in somewhat purer form, and named it "chinidin." Hesse,⁴in 1868, in referring to it, called it "conchinin"; other less used