[Digitalization of the arrhythmic heart patient].

Digitalis combines a longstanding tradition with constant up-to-dateness. Kinetic maintenance therapy is very often required for heart patients with arrhythmia as one of their most striking clinical manifestations. The well-known questions of paroxystic tachycardia, flutter and atrial fibrillation are examined, and attention is concentrated on ventricular extrasystole, sinoatrial node disease, and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. It is clear that combinations with recently introduced antiarrhythmic drugs, and administration of diuretics and electrolytes, and the employment of electrical stimulation have facilitated the long-term treatment of the chronic arrhythmic heart patient and brought about the better utilisation of digitalic substances. Their arrhythmogenic potential, however, cannot be overlooked.