Transient ventricular hypocinesia after in utero anthracyclines exposure: a case-report and review of the literature

Abstract

Due to the low occurrence of cancer during pregnancy, limited data are available about outcome of infants exposed to chemotherapy in utero. We report the case of a newborn who developed transient ventricular hypocinesia and late-onset infection after in utero exposure to four epirubicin cycles for pregnancy-associated breast cancer. Moreover, we provide an overview of literature on neonatal outcome after anthracyclines-based chemotherapy regimen during pregnancy. Existing data support use of anthracyclines, as few cases of fetal cardiac toxicity were reported and most of short-term complications were transient. Need for prospective collection of data and longer follow-up is highly recognized.

Keywords::

• Chemotherapy
• anthracyclines
• pregnancy
• cardiac toxicity
• newborn

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.