Ischemic heart disease associated with vincristine and doxorubicin chemotherapy
JM Calvo-Romero,
R Fernandez-Soria-Pantoja,
JD Arrebola-Garcia,
and
M Gil-Cubero
OBJECTIVE: To report the ocurrence of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in a patient with multiple myeloma treated with vincristine and doxorubicin. CASE SUMMARY: A 46-year-old man developed a Q-wave inferior and right-ventricle myocardial infarction with postinfarction angina after receiving his third cycle of vincristine and doxorubicin for immunoglobulin A multiple myeloma. Angiography showed two small filling defects consistent with thrombi in the distal right coronary artery. DISCUSSION: IHD may be a serious but uncommon complication of treatment with several chemotherapeutic agents. It is likely that chemotherapy played a role in the development of IHD in our patient. Several putative mechanisms for vascular toxicity have been associated with chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Chemotherapy with vincristine and doxorubicin may play a role in the ocurrence of IHD. Physicians should possess an awareness of this potentially serious complication of chemotherapy.
