The Effects of External Electric Currents on the Heart

Abstract

Clinically, application of electric currents to the heart has been limited to defibrillation in the operating room when the heart is exposed. In this paper technics are described for the external application of stimulating and countershock currents. They have been used successfully in man to terminate ventricular standstill from any cause and to stop ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation. For experimental purposes an additional technic has been developed for producing various cardiac arrhythmias by rapid external stimulation of the heart.