[Pharmacokinetic characteristics of lidocaine in patients with circulatory failure].

It has been shown with special reference to 35 patients suffering from myocardial infarction, atherosclerotic cardiosclerosis and rheumatic heart diseases associated with varying degrees of circulatory insufficiency that the final amount of distribution and halflife of lidocaine directly correlated with the cardiac index. A formula has been suggested for calculating the amount of distribution of the drug on the basis of the cardiac index. It has been demonstrated that the formula can be used for the development of therapeutically effective lidocaine concentration in the patients' blood.