Introduction:

Cardiotoxicity depends on various factors and it is evident in cardiovascular alterations induced by oncologic treatments directed to the heart´s function and morphology.

Objective:

To determine the symptoms of cardiotoxicity in pediatric patients.

Methods:

Descriptive and cross-sectional study in which there were included 79 patients treated in the Cuban Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology with thorax-mediastine irradiation from January 2008 to December 2014. Hodgkin disease was present in 54 patients, tumors of the central nervous system in 25, medulloblastomas in 19, and neuroectodermic primary tumors in 6. All the patients underwent physical examination, 12 -lead electrocardiogram and pre- and post-treatment 2D echocardiograms to include in the clinical records. The demographic and clinic characteristics were analyzed. Hodgkin disease’s patients received irradiation with 2 400 cGy intensity and the patients presenting tumors in the central nervous system with 2 340 cGy. Polychemotherapy was carried out with antracyclines, vincristine, vinblastine and others.

Results:

Average age of all patients was 7 years with predominance of male sex. Symptoms of cardiotoxicity were not recorded.

Conclusions:

In the serie of analyzed patients, irradiation in the heart area was apparently well beared by the patients, without early appearance of cardiotoxicity, not even in follow up periods of 9 years. Transitory nausea and leucopenia appeared in some cases. There are no differences in the toxicities of the different tumour’s groups studied. It is necessary to keep the regular follow up to rule out the appearence of cardiotoxicity in the next years.

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