Ephedrine in Adams-Stokes Syndrome

Epinephrine has been used with success to abolish the temporary ventricular standstill of Adams-Stokes syndrome. 1 The transient nature of its action and the necessity for subcutaneous administration represent two palpable objections to this drug. Ephedrine largely overcomes both of these difficulties, as it exhibits an epinephrine-like action over a more prolonged period and may be administered orally. These considerations and three favorable case reports in the literature 2 led to the use of ephedrine in the instance of severe Adams-Stokes disease subsequently described. Although a surprising amount of data 3 relative to the action of ephedrine on the circulatory system has accumulated in recent years, remarkably little has been made of the opportunity to observe the action of this drug on the completely dissociated auricle and ventricle in cases of human heart block. Miller 4 made electrocardiographic observations in a case of human heart block and recorded an increase