A case of chemotherapy-induced congestive heart failure successfully treated with Chinese herbal medicine. Issue 2 (April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Bei-Yu; Liu, Chun-Ting; Chen, Shih-Yu; Tsai, Ming-Yen
• Is Part Of: Complementary therapies in medicine. Volume 23:Issue 2(2015)
• Page Start: 251
• Page End: 256
• Publication Date: 2015-04
• Subjects: Alternative medicine -- Periodicals; Complementary Therapies -- Periodicals; Médecines parallèles -- Périodiques; Thérapeutique -- Périodiques; Alternative medicine; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 615.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2015.01.006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0965-2299

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="author" id="abs0005"> <title id="sect0005">Summary</title> <sec> <title id="sect0010">Objective</title> <p id="spar0005">A case is presented to illustrate a potential effect of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) formulas in treating chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sect0015">Clinical presentation</title> <p id="spar0010">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.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sect0020">Interventions and outcomes</title> <p id="spar0015">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.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sect0025">Conclusions</title> <p id="spar0020">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.</p> </sec> </abstract>