Added Benefit of Speckle Tracking Echo to Molecular Expression of High Sensitive Troponin I and Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor in Early Detection of Cardiomyopathy in Patients Receiving Anthracycline Chemotherapy

Anthracycline chemotherapy has saved the lives of many cancer victims during the 50 years after their discovery.These patients are prone to higher risk of cardiovascular death than the risk of tumor recurrence, particularly in childhood cancer survivors in whom the cardiac mortality rate is seven fold higher.

Cardiac toxicity remains an important side effect of anticancer therapies, leading to increased mortality due to mainly heart failure, but also arrhythmias, hypertension, thromboembolism.

The time from early development of cardiac dysfunction to the modification or end of chemotherapy and beginning of heart failure therapy, is an important determinant of the extent of recovery.

The Cardiotoxicity of anthracyclines may be acute, early or late. A recent study involving 2625 patients (mean follow-up 5 years); showed a 9% overall incidence of Cardiotoxicity after anthracycline treatment, 98% of cases occurred within the first year and were asymptomatic.

Cardiotoxicity has been defined using various classifications. Recent guidelines suggest that Cancer therapeutics-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) is defined as a decrease in the LVEF (by echocardiography) of >10 percentage points to a value below the lower limit of normal.