Markers of early cardiotoxicity in patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy depending on blood pressure level

Objective. To study the possibility of the 2D Speckle Tracking Imaging in early detection of cardiotoxicity in patients with triple negative breast cancer and arterial hypertension (AH) during anthracycline-containing chemotherapy. Materials and methods. 70 women (mean age 48.6±13.3 years) with triple negative breast cancer were enrolled. All patients underwent chemotherapy, including anthracycline, taxan, platinum-based agent. Echocardiography, including 2D Speckle Tracking Imaging, was performed on Vivid-E 9 ultrasound machine before and after 8 weeks of chemotherapy. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (the biplane Simpson`s method) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) (mean normal GLS of -22.1±1.8 for women) were analysed. Patients were divided into two groups: group 1 – with AH (n=18) and group 2 – with normal blood pressure (n=52). Results. Before chemotherapy in group 1 GLS was lower than normal value (-19.1±2.8% vs -22.1±1.8%; p<0.05) and lower than in the group 2 (-19.1±2.8% vs -20.0±2.8%; p>0.05). After chemotherapy in all patients GLS decrease was observed from -20.0±2.8% to -18.5±2.9% (p<0.05) and in group 1 from -19.1±2.8% to -16.4±3.8% (р<0.05), group 2 from -20.0±2.8% to -19.2±2.4% (p<0.05). However LVEF remained within normal values. The values of GLS decreased by more than 15% in 12 (17%) of all the patients. Conclusions. Apparently, GLS is the one of most sensitive early marker of chemotherapy – induced cardiotoxicity compared with the LVEF.