Tissue Doppler imaging and conventional echocardiography after anthracycline treatment in adults: early and late alterations of left ventricular function during a prospective study.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the short and long-term effects of anthracycline chemotherapy in adults using conventional echocardiography and pulsed tissue Doppler imaging (TDI).


RESULTS
Twenty patients were included of which 16 had a complete follow up. They underwent an echocardiography before chemotherapy, 1-3 months and 3.5+/-0.6 years after the treatment. We recorded pulsed TDI at the mitral annulus, the basal segments of the left ventricular (LV) lateral and posterior walls; peak velocities in systole (Sm), early (Em) and late diastole and the isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) were measured. The cumulative dose of doxorubicin was 211+/-82 g/m2. Early after anthracycline therapy, we observed changes in the diastolic LV function with a decrease of the mitral E peak velocity and TDI Em. At the late control, diastolic changes were more pronounced and associated with an alteration of the systolic function (LV ejection fraction and Sm). Four patients had a LV ejection fraction <50%; in these patients we observed a mitral annulus IVRT <80 ms at the early control; this could be of interest to predict later impairment of the LV ejection fraction.


CONCLUSIONS
We found early changes in LV diastolic function and observed that late impairment of the LV ejection fraction occurred frequently after anthracycline therapy, despite normal systolic LV function during the first months of follow-up.
Tassan-Mangina
Sophie
S
Cardiology Department, CHU Reims, France. stassanmangina@chu-reims.fr
Codorean
Daniela
D
Metivier
Marie
M
Costa
Brigitte
B
Himberlin
Chantal
C
Jouannaud
Christelle
C
Blaise
Anne Marie
AM
Elaerts
Jacques
J
Nazeyrollas
Pierre
P
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D018943:Anthracyclines / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000188:drug therapy; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
D018943:Anthracyclines