Key result
A 54-year-old woman developed acute myocarditis shortly after receiving 50 Gy of radiotherapy for breast cancer, which was successfully diagnosed using speckle tracking echocardiography and CMR.
Why the study?
Radiotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy typically occurs over 10 years after breast cancer treatment, leaving a gap in the literature regarding acute myocarditis following radiotherapy.
Case Report (n=1)
No
Highlights the potential for early acute myocarditis following radiotherapy for breast cancer and the utility of speckle tracking echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance for its diagnosis.
Raises caution for early myocarditis after breast cancer radiotherapy; leaves open STE/CMR diagnostic utility pending prospective studies.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide, and with the increased survival of patients by novel treatments, the frequency of complications of cancer treatments rises. Radiotherapy, especially on the chest wall, can damage different cardiac structures. Radiotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy mainly occurs over 10 years after breast cancer treatment; however, there is a gap in the literature on acute myocarditis following radiotherapy. Here, we present a 54-year-old woman who developed acute myocarditis shortly after 25 sessions of radiotherapy with 50 Gy of radiation, successfully diagnosed with the use of speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), and responded to the medical treatment with relative clinical improvement until the final follow-up. This case suggests the necessity of detailed examination of patients after radiotherapy, not only for chronic occurrence of cardiomyopathy but also for acute myocarditis. Although STE and CMR resulted in accurate diagnosis, in this case, further studies are required to determine the diagnostic accuracy of these two imaging methods compared with other imaging modalities in such patients and investigate the best diagnostic tool and therapeutic approach for these patients.
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Sharifkazemi et al. (2023) conducted a case report in Breast cancer, acute myocarditis (n=1). Radiotherapy was evaluated on Acute myocarditis. A 54-year-old woman developed acute myocarditis shortly after receiving 50 Gy of radiotherapy for breast cancer, which was successfully diagnosed using speckle tracking echocardiography and CMR.
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