Late cardiac evaluation of children with solid tumors after anthracycline chemotherapy

Background The therapeutic potential of anthracycline antibiotics is limited by their cardiotoxicity. Electrocardiography, exercise testing, and two‐dimensional echocardiography are non‐invasive techniques used in the follow‐up of children for cardiotoxicity. Plasma B‐type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are thought to be useful markers in the early detection of AC induced cardiomyopathy. Procedure We evaluated cardiac status of 34 patients with solid tumors treated with anthracycline antibiotics. All of the patients were asymptomatic and had no evidence of residual malignancy. They were evaluated by electrocardiography, exercise testing, echocardiography, and plasma BNP levels measured before and after the exercise testing. Results Electrocardiography revealed only minor abnormalities of little clinical significance. All of the patients completed the exercise testing without complication, and the duration of the exercise for each patient was between normal limits. Cardiac output (CO) and wall stress (WS) were significantly increased in patients, than in controls in echocardiographic evaluation of systolic functions (P