EARLY DETECTION OF ANTHRACYCLINE-INDUCED CARDIOTOXICITY

摘要

Introduction: Cancer is the most dreaded disease known to mankind. Cardiotoxicity is a complication of antineoplastic treatment, which can be detected early by echocar-diogram. Objective: To identify echocardiographic variables related to the occurrence of cardio-toxicity by anthracycline. Method: A descriptive, prospective and longitudinal study was conducted with all pa-tients admitted to the Hematology Department of Hermanos Ameijeiras Surgical Cli-nical Hospital, from January 2010 to January 2012. 28 patients who received chemo-therapy with anthracyclines were studied. The general information of each patient, as well as the information concerning the transthoracic echocardiogram, was obtained during hospitalization, at one, 6 and 12 months. Results: 69.3% of patients who developed cardiotoxicity were older than 45 years and there was a predominance of males (76.9%). 56.8% had cardiotoxicity at a dose lower than 550 mg/m2 (p = 0.032). Strain rate/? values in patients who developed cardio-toxicity were significantly reduced at one month [0.8638/0.2 (p = 0.043) and 13.77/ 4.1 (p = 0.031)]; while LVEF remained normal [54.6 ± 4 (p = 0.036)]. Regarding volume/ pressure of the left atrium, there was an increase in the reference values (21.13 ± 5.08 ml and 10.91 ± 0.57 mmHg), although without statistical significance (p = 0.217 and p = 0.728). Conclusions: Strain rate/? technique has been helpful for early diagnosis of cardio-toxicity.