[Early cardiotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil]

A bolus of 1000 mg of 5-FU intravenously was given to a 54-year-old patient with adenocarcinoma of colon, a month after hemicolectomy. He had not received irradiation therapy. Five hours later he complained of severe chest pain; after 24 hours ecg. changes of pericarditis were seen and on heart auscultation a pericardial friction rub was heard. After 6 day the ecg. returned to the pattern of that on day of admission to the ICCU. Two further injections of 1000 mg of 5-FU were also followed by severe precordial pain and the same ecg. pattern. The pulmonary edema 14 hours after the second injection and the slight elevation of CPK value after the third injection strongly suggest myocardial cell damage. For the strictly temporal relationship between the clinical and electrocardiographic pattern with 5-FU administration intravenously, we are of the opinion that the perimyocarditis was due to the direct toxic action of 5-FU on pericardium and myocardium.