Possibilities of a new method for evaluating myocardial work in patients with breast cancer after anthracycline chemotherapy

Objective : to study the possibility of a new echocardiographic technology for assessing the effectiveness of myocardial work in detecting cardiotoxicity in patients with breast cancer, depending on the level of blood pressure during anthracycline chemotherapy. Material and methods : 30 women with triple-negative breast cancer were enrolled, 13 of them (43.3%) had arterial hypertension (AH). All patients underwent standard transthoracic echocardiography with assessment of left ventricular systolic function. The STE method was used to estimate the LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) in a two-dimensional mode. The efficiency of myocardial work was also evaluated. Results . After chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer the LVEF remained within normal values. After chemotherapy in breast cancer patients revealed a statistically significant decrease in GLS and myocardial work parameters. Also it has been shown that myocardial work parameters seem to better reflect the LV mechanical dysfunction compared to the GLS, especially in patients with breast cancer and high blood pressure. Conclusion . The first results of the study showed that in breast cancer patients who had high blood pressure at the time of the study, myocardial work parameters better reflect of the LV mechanical dysfunction than the GLS parameter. A new method for evaluating the effectiveness of myocardial work requires further research and study in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy.