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Digitalis Glycosides

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Critical Care Toxicology

Abstract

The medical use of cardiac glycosides began in 1785 with the publication of Withering’s monograph on the therapeutic efficacy and toxicity of the leaves of the common foxglove plant,. Various glycosides including digitoxin and ouabain were then extracted from plants, and digitalis glycosides have been widely prescribed for more than 230 years.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Prof. Frédéric Lapostolle who contributed to the first version of this chapter.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical and Toxicological Critical Care, Lariboisière Hospital, Paris-Diderot University, INSERM UMRS-1144, Paris, France

    Bruno Mégarbane

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  1. Bruno Mégarbane
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Correspondence to Bruno Mégarbane .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA

    Jeffrey Brent

  2. FDA, Office of New Drugs/Immediate Office, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

    Keith Burkhart

  3. Clinical Toxicology, St Thomas’ Hospital, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

    Paul Dargan

  4. Toxicology Associates, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Benjamin Hatten

  5. Medical Toxicological Intensive Care Unit, Lariboisiere Hospital, Paris-Diderot University, Paris, France

    Bruno Megarbane

  6. Toxicology Associates, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Robert Palmer

  7. Toxinology Department, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Julian White

Grading System for Levels of Evidence Supporting Recommendations in Critical Care Toxicology, 2nd Edition

  1. I

    Evidence obtained from at least one properly randomized controlled trial.

  2. II-1

    Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization.

  3. II-2

    Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies, preferably from more than one center or research group.

  4. II-3

    Evidence obtained from multiple time series with or without the intervention. Dramatic results in uncontrolled experiments (such as the results of the introduction of penicillin treatment in the 1940s) could also be regarded as this type of evidence.

  5. III

    Opinions of respected authorities, based on clinical experience, descriptive studies and case reports, or reports of expert committees.

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Mégarbane, B. (2017). Digitalis Glycosides. In: Brent, J., et al. Critical Care Toxicology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17900-1_185

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