[Torsade de pointes ventricular tachycardia in a patient with acute myelocytic leukemia]

The anti-leukemic antibiotics, anthracyclines, are most effective agents in the treatment of acute leukemia. However, they have severe cardiac toxicities, which ordinarily shows dose-dependency, but sometimes produce acute cardiomyopathy. We experienced Torsade-de-pointes arrhythmia during the treatment of acute myelocytic leukemia (AML); The patient was a 28 year old woman and had an AML-M1. After the short course administration of daunorubicin (total 90 mg/m2) and aclarubicin (total 219 mg/m2), she suffered from an attack of Torsade-de-pointes ventricular tachycardia and passed away, since any treatment against ventricular arrhythmia was not effective. Autopsy studies revealed degeneration and atrophy of cardiac muscle in the area around His's bundle, which suggested an anthracycline-induced cardiac toxicity.