The Use of Digitalis in Infants and Children

OVER one hundred and sixty years ago, Withering1 first described the usefulness of digitalis in the treatment of certain types of "dropsy." About fifteen years later, Ferriar2 first attributed the efficacy of digitalis to its effect on the heart.Early in the twentieth century, the principal use of digitalis was found to be in the treatment of auricular fibrillation (Cushny3 and Lewis.)4 Within the past twenty-five years, however, digitalis has become the drug of choice in the treatment of congestive heart failure of adults with or without auricular fibrillation (Christian,5 Luten,6 Wenckebach7 and Levine8). Digitalizing dosages have been successfully . . .