Cardiac Necrosis Accompanying Potassium Deficiency and Administration of Corticosteroids.

• Cardiac necrosis was first recognized in conjunction with potassium deficiency by Schrader et al. in 1937. No serum or tissue analysis was done in this study. Follis et al. in 1942 found low heart potassium in rats that developed cardiac necrosis while being fed diets deficient in potassium. The occurrence of cardiac lesions in rats secondary to administration of desoxyeorticosterone or low potassium diets was described by Miller and Darrow in 1942. Analysis of serum and skeletal muscle demonstrated the correlation of cardiac lesions with low muscle potassium and high muscle sodium. Subsequent work has indicated that these experimental procedures produce metabolic alkalosis as well as the changes in the muscle electrolytes.