The Effect of Digitalis on Ventricular Ejection in Normal Human Subjects

Abstract

The administration of deslanoside to normal subjects was associated with an abbreviation in the duration of all phases of mechanical systole in the absence of a change in cardiac output. The decrease in the ejection time index following deslanoside is an expression of the [see figure in the PDF file] diminution in the duration of ventricular ejection relative to heart rate and reflects the enhanced mean rate of left ventricular ejection following the drug. These observations lend additional evidence for the positive inotropic effect of digitalis in the normal heart. Serial determinations of the left ventricular ejection time index following deslanoside afforded observations on the temporal course of the effect of the drug. The decrease in the left ventricular ejection time index proved to be dose dependent, lending evidence for a direct relationship between the positive inotropic effect and the decreased duration of left ventricular ejection.