Congestive heart failure due to adriamycin cardiotoxicity: its natural history in children.

The congestive heart failure (CHF) associated with Adriamycin cardiotoxicity is frequently fatal. To investigate the course of Adriamycin-induced congestive heart failure, all Adriamycin-treated children who developed congestive heart failure at the Children's Hospital Medical Center and Sidney Farber Cancer Institute were studied. Criteria for Adriamycin-induced congestive heart failure included clinical evidence of left ventricular (LV) failure and echocardiographic evidence of abnormal left ventricular function. Fifteen children fulfilled these criteria. Eleven patients received between 400 and 500 mg/m2 of Adriamycin; four patients received cumulative doses over 500 mg/m2. Twelve of 15 (80%) children survived their acute episode of congestive heart failure. At follow-up, three patients had normalized their echocardiographic parameters of left ventricular function, three had died of their malignancies with compensated cardiac function until death, and six were clinically asymptomatic despite persistence of abnormal LV function on echocardiogram. Only three patients died of Adriamycin cardiomyopathy. In children treated with aggressive medical therapy, congestive heart failure secondary to Adriamycin cardiotoxicity may be reversible in certain cases.