Comparison of Conventional and Advanced Echocardiographic Techniques in Early Detection of Cardiotoxicity in Patients Undergoing Cancer Chemotherapy

Context: The assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is the most important component in prediction and detection of cardiotoxicity in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy. LVEF may not be sensitive enough to pick the cardiotoxicity early since drop in LVEF occurs in the last and irreversible stage. A 10%–15% early reduction in global longitudinal strain (GLS) by speckle tracking echocardiography proposed to be the earliest indicator of myocardial dysfunction. Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the early detection of cardiotoxicity (at 0 and 3 months) using drop in LVEF with two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE), three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE), and GLS techniques. Settings and Design: This was a prospective cohort study of patients attending cardiooncology clinic in a tertiary care institute. Subjects and Methods: Newly diagnosed 75 cases of cancer of various etiologies, for whom cardiotoxic chemotherapy drugs has to be used, were included from January 2016 to June 2016. Statistical Analysis Used: Data were analyzed with Pearson’s Chi-square test, mean, standard deviation, and 95% confidence interval. Results: A total of 17 (22.6%) subjects out of 75, had drop in LVEF by GLS (<−18.9%) as compared to 5 (6.6%) in 2DE and 7 (9.3%) in 3DE at 3 months with statistically significant P values (P = 0.0001). In the 17 subjects who had significant fall in GLS at 3 months, the mean GLS was −16.17 ± 1.55% with a significant reduction of 13.48% from baseline. Conclusion: Reduction in GLS preceded decrease in ejection fraction. Early detection allows modification of chemotherapeutic regimens and medical intervention preventing the irreversible cardiac damage.