Nutritional status and anthracycline cardiotoxicity in children.

The nutritional status of children in whom cardiomyopathy resulted from anthracycline chemotherapy was compared to that of a matched control group of patients who were treated similarly but who had no evidence of cardiac toxicity. Those with cardiotoxic reactions were found to be more often malnourished than were their matched controls. Once clinical manifestations of cardiotoxocity developed, the course was relentless and resistant to treatment and ended in death in 75% of the patients.