1 Clinical Pharmacology Unit, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Aviv University Medical School, Tel-Hashomer, Israel
Excessive serum digoxin concentrations do not establish the diagnosis of digitalis intoxication but certainly mark the subgroup of digitalis-treated patients who are at high risk of intoxication. True, seven of ten infants tolerated high serum concentrations without adverse effect, but intoxication was nonetheless highly prevalent (30%) among these infants.
The choice of the 2 ng/ml level was not arbitrary but rather represents the well-established lower limit of the toxic range in adults. Our findings support the statement that it is of the same significance in the agc group studied.