Quantitative evaluation of left ventricular myocardium damage in patients with breast cancer after combined chemotherapy using velocity vector imaging / 中国医学影像技术

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the value of velocity vector imaging (VVI) in quantitatively evaluating the degree of myocardial damage in breast cancer patients treated with combined chemotherapy. Methods Totally 65 patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) positive breast cancer were divided into CETH group (combined chemotherapy with Herceptin) and CET group (combined chemotherapy). Routine echocardiography and VVI were performed before chemotherapy and at the end of the 5th and 7th chemotherapy cycles, respectively. The parameters of conventional echocardiography, systolic strain rate (SSR) and early diastolic strain rate (DSR) were analyzed. Results No significant difference of ultrasound parameters was found between CETH group and CET group before and at the end of the 5th, 7th cycles of chemotherapy (all P>0.05). In both CETH group and CET group, there were significant differences of SSR and DSR in 16 segments of left ventricle before and at the end of the 5th and 7th cycles of chemotherapy (all P<0.05). With the prolongation of chemotherapy time, SSR and DSR decreased gradually, and there were significant differences between each of the two time points (all P<0.05). At the end of the 7th cycle of chemotherapy, SSR and DSR of left ventricular segments in CETH group were lower than those in CET group (all P<0.05). Conclusion VVI is more sensitive than conventional echocardiography in detecting left ventricular myocardial damage, which can quantitatively assess myocardial damage of breast cancer patients with different chemotherapy regimens.