Abstract
It was presented that calcium enhanced the atrioventricular dissociation induced by the digitalis to the complete type of it without the ventricular excitation and, in other word, to the ventricular asystole. Therefore, the synergistic effect between calcium and digitalis appeared to prolong the atrioventricular conduction, rather than to enhance the ectopic beat formation.
In this cardiac asystole the myocardium was still excitable to the electrical stimulation and was able to produce the sufficient left ventricular pressure for the general circulation. So the cardiac arrest in this experiment appeared to be due either to the cessation of the activity of a supraventricular pacemaker or to failure of the atrioventricular conduction, rather than to inexcitability of the ventricular myocardium as the effect of potassium to the digitalis intoxication.
