Digitalis is a medication used to treat heart failure and heart rhythm disturbances.
It is considered digitalis intoxication when symptoms appear as a result of an excessive dose of the drug. It appears as a consequence of excessive intake, decreased tolerance, or reduced elimination of the drug.
It presents with arrhythmia, altered level of consciousness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite and decreased amount of urine, etc. If the intoxication is chronic, visual symptoms such as altered color vision (chromatopsia), double vision (diplopia), discomfort when looking at light (photophobia) and different degrees of blindness will be added.
Diagnosis is made by clinical history, physical examination and complementary tests with electrocardiographic recording and blood tests.
Treatment should be administered in a hospital and will be based on supportive measures to ensure the persistence of a patent airway, proper ventilation and spontaneous circulation. In severe cases with severe arrhythmias and arterial hypotension, specific antibodies to digoxin should be administered.
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