Auricular Fibrillation

In a review of a considerable part of the literature on the use of quinidine sulphate in the treatment for auricular fibrillation, in every instance to my knowledge the patients were hospitalized for treatment. No mention is made of any patient or group of patients who were treated by the ambulatory method. This report deals with twenty-four patients with auricular fibrillation who were treated with quinidine sulphate in the outpatient department of the University of Minnesota. Since 1918, when Frey 1 introduced quinidine as a therapeutic measure in the treatment for heart disease, much has been written about its efficacy, its toxic effects and the complications resulting from its use. Almost every report in the literature relates instances of the following complications: distressing palpitation, acute heart failure, diarrhea, respiratory or cerebral disturbances and emboli. There is reason to believe that quinidine has not been given the place it deserves in