[The heart and drug poisoning, excluding cardiologic treatments]

When considered strictly from the viewpoint of actions on the myocardium, the number of drugs falling into this category is limited, but the resulting conditions may be serious. The prototype for cardiac toxicity is the group of antimitotic drugs (adriamycin or daunomycin). If these drugs are used; frequent and careful follow-up is necessary, the dosage at which the drug becomes cumulative must be known; and patients with a pre-existing cardiac condition must be exluded from treatment. Above all, it is essential not to wait until asystole occurs, but to try to prevent such occurrences by monitoring the patient electrocardiographically. A part from these drugs, recent articles in the literature suggest that similar care should be taken when prescribing emetine and lithium salts. There is insufficient information about other drugs which may have a certain degree of cardiotoxicity. For this reason, it is most important to gather information on accidents and reaction during treatment.