Digoxin: its role in contemporary medicine.

Digoxin has been a key therapeutic for heart failure and atrial tachyarrhythmias for over 200 years following Withering's groundbreaking work depicting the therapeutic benefit of the common botanical foxglove in his 1785 monograph. The use of digoxin preceded any randomised evidence or even basic understanding of its mechanism of action. Over the past two decades, there has been mounting evidence further challenging the safety and efficacy of digoxin, while multiple other therapies for both heart failure and atrial tachyarrhythmias have proven to be more effective and safe. Altogether, digoxin still has an important role in contemporary pharmacotherapeutics, though its role remains controversial and should be reserved for selective patients and clinical situations, with careful attention to serum concentrations. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.