Multicentre analysis of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in children following treatment according to the nephroblastoma studies SIOP No.9/GPOH and SIOP 93-01/GPOH

Background. To study cardiac function and the incidence of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in children following treatment according to the nephroblastoma studies SIOP No.9/GPOH and SIOP 93-01/GPOH. Procedure. Analysis of clinical status, echocardiography, and ECG findings prior to administration of anthracyclines (median cumulative doxorubicin dose: 250 mg/m² [range: 90-411 mg/m²] and after a median posttherapeutic interval of 2.9 years [range: 0-10.2 years]. Data on cardiac function before and/or after therapy could be obtained of 186 patients. Results. Posttherapy left ventricular fractional shortening was reduced in 4/157 (2.5%) patients. Out of the 4 children, 2 had clinically reduced tolerance to exercise and received anticongestive therapy. Abnormal ECG findings that were not detectable prior to therapy were found in 7/124 (5.6%) children. Conclusions. The incidence of abnormal findings is low in our study group in comparison to data from the literature and might be due to the comparably short posttherapeutic interval.