title: Value of echocardiography and electrocardiography as screening tools prior to Doxorubicin administration.
abstract: The dose-limiting toxicity of doxorubicin is cardiotoxicosis. The authors of this report hypothesized that by using their institution's adopted guidelines (that involve prescreening echocardiography and electrocardiography), they would detect pre-existing cardiac abnormalities that preclude doxorubicin administration in <10% of dogs. Of 101 dogs, only 6 were excluded from doxorubicin administration based on electrocardiogram abnormalities, with a majority of those arrhythmias classified as ventricular premature contractions. One patient was excluded based on echocardiogram alone due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The incidence of cardiotoxicity in treated dogs was 8% (8/101). Additional pretreatment and ongoing studies are indicated to identify risk factors for cardiotoxicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA. wratterree@vetmed.lsu.edu
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ratterree
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gieger
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pariaut
authors.forename: Carley
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saelinger
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Strickland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000662:veterinary; D054715:Cardiotoxins / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D004285:Dogs; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000662:veterinary*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D054715:Cardiotoxins; D004317:Doxorubicin