[Acute pulmonary edema during general anesthesia in a young woman treated with epirubicin]

The use of the anthracycline doxorubicin is restricted by its cardiac toxicity. Another anthracycline, epirubicin, is probably less cardiotoxic. A case is reported, where a 30 year-old woman with breast cancer, treated with epirubicin, developed pulmonary oedema during surgery and anaesthesia. The patient had no previous cardio-pulmonary disorders, and had only received 10% of the usual maximum dose of epirubicin. The different clinical presentations of anthracycline-induced cardiac toxicity are described.