Cardiomyopathy in leukemia, with reference to rubidomycin cardiotoxicity.

Sixteen patients who had died with leukemia were studied at autopsy between September 1975 and Februrary 1977. Special attention was given to degenerative changes in the heart. Five of the patients died of cardiac failure, all with no or only slight leukemic infiltration in various organs at autopsy. Five patients showed basophilic necroses in the myocardium, and two of these also showed necroses in the bone marrow. The myocardial lipofuscin was significantly (P less than 0.01) higher in the autopsies of leukemic patients (mean age 45 years) than in autopsies performed at the Department of Forensic Medicine in 18 cases of accidental death (mean age 36 years). No dose-response relationship could be found between the amount of myocardial lipofuscin and the total dose of rubidomycin. Eight of twelve patients with malignant lymphoma (mean age 45 years) also had increased amount of myocardial lipofuscin.