How does digoxin control atrial fibrillation?

Digoxin is a type of drug called a cardiac glycoside. Their function is to slow your heart rate down and improve the filling of your ventricles (two of the chambers of the heart) with blood. For people with atrial fibrillation, where the heart beats irregularly, a different volume of blood is pumped out each time.

How does digoxin decrease heart rate?

Digoxin lowers the heart rate by enhancing vagal tone, which leads to slowing of sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodal conduction and thereby a reduction in heart rate.

How does digoxin rate control?

Digoxin has a negative chronotropic action on the sinus node and decreases the cardiac rate, especially in patients with heart failure.

What are the indications for digoxin?

Digoxin is indicated in the following conditions: 1) For the treatment of mild to moderate heart failure in adult patients. 2) To increase myocardial contraction in children diagnosed with heart failure. 3) To maintain control ventricular rate in adult patients diagnosed with chronic atrial fibrillation.

What is rate and rhythm?

What is the difference between heart rate and heart rhythm? The heart rate is the number of times the heart beats in a minute. This is the number of times it pumps to push blood round the body. The heart rhythm is the pattern in which the heart beats. It may be described as regular or irregular, or fast or slow.

What is PAF with RVR?

A-fib with RVR is the common term for atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response. A common disorder that involves a rapid heart rate, it requires medical attention and, in many cases, hospitalization.

Is digoxin a beta blocker or ACE inhibitor?

Digoxin is a cardiac glycoside and metoprolol is a beta-blocker. Side effects of digoxin and metoprolol that are similar include nausea and diarrhea.

What is the role of digoxin in atrial fibrillation?

Digoxin in atrial fibrillation. In patients with AF, the primary effect of digoxin is slowing down atrioventricular (AV) conduction, leading to a reduction in ventricular response at rest, but much less so during exercise.

What is the mechanism of action of digdigoxin?

Digoxin’s primary mechanism of action is through inhibition of sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase). Its role in heart failure patients is based on its inotropic properties, due to inhibition of sodium-potassium ATPase which leads to increased intracellular calcium concentrations through the sodium-calcium exchanger[5-8].

How does digoxin affect the sinoatrial conduction?

From the electrophysiologic standpoint, digoxin has a parasympathetic effect on the sinoatrial node, by decreasing the automaticity as well as on the atrioventricular conduction system by decreasing conduction and increasing the effective refractory periods[6].

Are digoxin and amiodarone first-line agents for atrial fibrillation in critically ill patients?

Background: In critically ill patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) with rapid ventricular rate (RVR), first-line agents may be due to hemodynamically unfavorable. Amiodarone and digoxin are alternatives, however, there is a paucity of literature comparing their effectiveness.