Cardio-oncology: the role of advanced echocardiography in cancer patients

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Cardio-oncology is a rapidly growing field aimed at improving the quality of care of cancer patients by preventing and monitoring cardiovascular complications resulting from cancer treatment. Cardiac imaging, and in particular, transthoracic echocardiography, plays an essential
role in the baseline assessment and serial follow-up of cardio-oncology patients.

Areas covered: This review article discusses the role of cardiac imaging with a focus on advanced echocardiography for the detection and management of cancer therapy related cardiovascular complications, in particular, left ventricular dysfunction and heart failure.

Expert commentary: While traditional imaging based assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction still has its place in cardiac monitoring, more advanced echocardiographic modalities, in particular, myocardial deformation imaging with speckle tracking strain analysis, show great potential for detecting early signs of cardiotoxicity. Larger studies are needed to determine both the clinical role of strain measurement in influencing initiation of cardioprotective agents and its prognostic value in long term outcome.

KEYWORDS:

• Cardiac imaging
• cardio-oncology
• cardiotoxicity
• echocardiography
• strain imaging

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded