title: A case of chemotherapy-induced congestive heart failure successfully treated with Chinese herbal medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A case is presented to illustrate a potential effect of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) formulas in treating chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity.
  
  
  METHODS
  An 18-year-old adolescent male with refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) had experienced anthracycline-induced congestive heart failure (CHF) for 3 weeks. Under intensive care with conventional therapy, the patient still had exercise intolerance and depended on supplemental oxygen all day. Therefore, he consented to treatment with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for alternative therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This patient was treated with modified Zhi Gan Cao Tang (ZGCT), three times a day for 2 months. After 6 days of CHM treatment, the patient could tolerate daily activity without supplemental oxygen. After 2 months of CHM treatment, the follow-up chest X-ray showed great improvements in pulmonary edema and cardiomegaly.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this case, anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity resolved slowly following the administration of modified ZGCT. It is suggested that the CHM formula has a protective effect on the progression of CHF secondary to the use of anthracyclines in pediatric cancer. Further studies to determine the mechanism and clinical trials are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Bei-Yu
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Ting
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital and I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Yu
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Integrated Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: missuriae@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: Ming-Yen
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal
keywords: Chemotherapy; Heart failure; Traditional Chinese medicine; Zhi Gan Cao Tang