Digoxin concentrations in postmortem human tissues.

An extraction procedure is described that allows the application of a commercially available enzyme-multiplied immunoassay technique to the measurement of digoxin in whole blood, liver, and kidney. The concentrations of digoxin were measured in tissues obtained at autopsy from five patients who had been taking therapeutic doses of digoxin prior to death. Blood concentrations at autopsy were found to be higher than the therapeutic range, perhaps due to postmortem redistribution.