Myocardial Strain Is Associated with Adverse Clinical Cardiac Events in Patients Treated with Anthracyclines.

BACKGROUND: Anthracycline-induced symptomatic heart failure is often irreversible, underlining the usefulness of pretreatment risk assessment. Global longitudinal strain (GLS) before or after chemotherapy is associated with a later decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF); however, whether prechemotherapy GLS is associated with symptomatic heart failure and cardiac death in patients treated with anthracyclines is unknown. METHODS: Patients with hematologic cancers treated with anthracyclines who underwent prechemotherapy echocardiography between November 2006 and June 2011 were retrospectively recruited. Basic demographic data, end-diastolic and end-systolic left ventricular volumes, LVEF, and GLS were measured. Clinical cardiac events (CEs) were defined as cardiac death or symptomatic heart failure. The association of prechemotherapy parameters with CEs was analyzed using proportional hazard analysis. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up period of 1,593 days (range, 13-2,891 days) after the start of chemotherapy, 28 of 450 patients (6%) experienced CEs. Prechemotherapy LVEF and GLS were lower in patients with CEs compared with those without CEs (58 ± 10% vs 62 ± 7% [P = .005] and -15.0 ± 2.8% vs -19.7 ± 2.7% [P < .0001], respectively). Diabetes (hazard ratio [HR], 7.06; P < .0001), hypertension (HR, 2.22; P = .04), LVEF (HR, 0.93; P = .005), and GLS (HR, 1.47; P < .0001) were associated with CEs. After controlling for clinical variables, prechemotherapy GLS remained independently associated with CEs (P < .0001). GLS less than the absolute value of -17.5% was found in 105 patients (23%) and was associated with a sixfold increase in CEs (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Prechemotherapy GLS is an effective tool to stratify patients at high risk for CEs after anthracycline therapy and may help tailor treatments to decrease anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity.

Time Trends of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction and Myocardial Deformation Indices in a Cohort of Women with Breast Cancer Treated with Anthracyclines, Taxanes, and Trastuzumab.

BACKGROUND: Trastuzumab, a HER2 monoclonal antibody, has transformed the prognosis of patients with the aggressive HER2-positive breast cancer type. Trastuzumab augments the cardiotoxic effects of anthracyclines, but its effect is thought to be at least partially reversible. The objective of this study was to examine the time trends of left ventricular (LV) size and function in a cohort of women treated with anthracyclines and trastuzumab. METHODS: Twenty-nine patients >18 years of age with first-time breast cancer treated with anthracyclines and trastuzumab were monitored using echocardiography before, at the completion of, and at a median follow-up of 24.7 months (interquartile range, 15.9-34 months) after the end of their cancer treatment. LV volume, LV ejection fraction, and global peak systolic longitudinal strain and strain rate were measured in the apical four- and two-chamber views. Left ventricular ejection fraction was measured using a modified Simpson's biplane method. RESULTS: LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes increased at the end of treatment compared with baseline and did not recover during follow-up. Left ventricular ejection fraction, strain, and strain rate decreased at the end of treatment compared with baseline (from 64 ± 6% to 59 ± 8%, from -20.0 ± 2.5% to -17.6 ± 2.6%, and from -1.26 ± 0.23 to -1.13 ± 0.16 sec(-1), respectively; P < .05 for all parameters) and remained decreased at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: LV dilation and subclinical impairment in cardiac function persists >2 years after the end of anthracycline and trastuzumab treatment, without significant recovery after trastuzumab cessation, suggestive of long-term underlying cardiac damage and remodeling.