Dixin Paed

Digoxin, sold under the brand name Lanoxin among others, is a medication used to treat various heart conditions. Most frequently it is used for atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and heart failure. Digoxin is one of the oldest medications used in the field of cardiology. It works by increasing myocardial contractility, increasing stroke volume and blood pressure, reducing heart rate, and somewhat extending the time frame of the contraction. Digoxin is taken by mouth or by injection into a vein. Digoxin has a half life of approximately 36 hours given at average doses in patients with normal renal function. It is excreted mostly unchanged in the urine.

Digoxin is a cardiac glycoside medication derived from the leaves of the foxglove plant Digitalis lanata, first isolated in pure form in 1930 by Sydney Smith.[1] Its primary mechanism of action is inhibition of the Na+/K+-ATPase pump in cardiac cells, leading to increased intracellular sodium and calcium, which enhances myocardial contractility (positive inotropic effect). It also increases vagal tone, producing negative chronotropic effects (slowing heart rate) and negative dromotropic effects (slowing atrioventricular nodal conduction).[2]