[Digitalis poisoning and severe respiratory insufficiency]. / Intoxication digitalique et insuffisance respiratoire grave.

After seeing 9 cases of digitalis intoxication in patients with acute respiratory decompensation of chronic respiratory failure in one year in an intensive care unit, the authors decided to review the literature on the subject. They set out to: --determine the clinical, laboratory and electrical features of digitalis intoxication in patients with chronic respiratory failure, accounting for the frequency of supraventricular arrhythmias; --evaluate the frequency of this intoxication (20% in this study), introducing a definite risk factor, given the poor haemodynamic effectiveness of digitaloids in this indication; --establish a therapeutic management based on the use of anti-arrhythmics and especially on the prevention of predisposing factors (hypoxaemia--functional renal failure and abuse of diuretics).