Cardiac toxicity and mornitoring in children with anthracycline therapy

Abstract:

Objective To guide the clinical use of anthracycline in childhood leukemia and lymphoma patients, and to lessen the anthracycline-induced cardiac impairment.Methods Echocardiography, electrocardiography, myocardio-enzymes and chest X-ray were used to evaluate the cardiac function before and after chemotherapy. Results In 85 cases the total abnormal rate of echocardiogram was 38.82% (33/85), 20.93% (9/43) prechemotherapy and 50% (21/42) post-chemotherapy. The abnormal rate increased apparently in patients whose anthracycline cumulative dosage was ≥350 mg/M 2 . Two patients died of cardiomyopathy,whose cumulative dosages were 100 mg/M 2 and 454.35 mg/M 2 respectively . Conclusions It is recommended to monitor cardiac function in childhood leukemia and lymphoma during chemotherapy period. The dose of anthracycline should be modified according to the cardiac function and the cumulative dosage. It is sensitive and practicable for echocardiography to monitoring cardiac function.