Echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular function during the injection of adriamycin.

Echocardiography was used to evaluate left ventricular function in 8 children treated with adriamycin for malignant disease. Preejection period (PEP), left ventricular ejection time (LVET) and percent change in left ventricular internal dimension with systole (delta LVID) were measured before, during and immediately after 22 injections of adriamycin as well as 14 injections of other cytotoxic drugs and physiologic saline. No immediate effects on left ventricular function could be discerned. When functional parameters were evaluated longitudinally in patients with relatively higher cumulative doses of adriamycin, percent change in left ventricular internal dimension with systole showed some tendency to decrease, while the other parameters remained essentially unchanged.