[Cardiotoxicity of anthracycline cytostatic agents--a proposal for routine monitoring and supportive therapy]

The authors investigated a group of 57 patients with acute leukaemia and 30 patients with malignant lymphomas, who were treated by combinations of cytostatics containing the anthracycline antibiotics daunorubicin and adriamycin. Using examination methods which are widely available they tried to find indicators which detect early manifestations of cardiac damage during this treatment. The most valuable indicators of incipient anthracycline cardiomyopathy were the heart rate at rest and the QTc interval on the ECG tracing. The validity of polygraphy and echocardiography could not be assessed in the present work. The authors suggest a procedure of routine monitoring of patients treated with anthracycline cytostatics and methods of supportive therapy to ensure safe treatment.