Real-time three-dimensional echocardiography predicts cardiotoxicity induced by postoperative chemotherapy in breast cancer patients

BACKGROUND: The anthracycline chemotherapeutic drugs are cardiotoxic. Studies have found some indicators related to cardiotoxicity. However, there is currently no accurate indicator that can predict cardiac toxicity early. AIM: To explore the diagnostic value of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) in predicting cardiac toxicity in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS: Female breast cancer patients who underwent radical mastectomy and postoperative chemotherapy at the Affiliated Hanzhou First People’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine were recruited. All patients were routinely administered with chemotherapy for four cycles (T1-T4) after surgery. Two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography, RT3DE, and serological examinations were performed after each cycle of chemotherapy. Patients were divided into a toxic group and a non-toxic group based on whether patients had Δ left ventricular ejection fraction > 10% after one year of chemotherapy. Repeated measurement analysis of variance was used to compare the changes in 2D echocardiographic indicators, serological indicators, and RT3DE indicators before and after chemotherapy. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify independent predictive indicators for cardiac toxicity in postoperative chemotherapy patients. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was performed to analyze the diagnostic value of potential indicators in the diagnosis of cardiotoxicity. RESULTS: A total of 107 female breast cancer patients were included in the study. T4 maximum peak velocity in early diastole (E peak)/mitral annulus lateral tissue Doppler (e' peak) (E/e'), serological indicators [T4 cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and T4 pro-brain natriuretic peptide (Pro-BNP)], T3 minimum left atrial volume (LAV), T4 LAVmin, T3 LAV before the start of the P wave (LAVprep), and T4 LAVprep in the toxicity group were significantly higher than those in the non-toxic group. Multivariate logistic regression found that T4 cTnI, T4 Pro-BNP, T3 LAVmin, T4 LAVmin, T3 LAVprep, and T4 LAVprep had potential predictive value for cardiac toxicity (P < 0.05). ROC results showed that T4 LAVmin had the highest accuracy for diagnosing cardiac toxicity [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.947; sensitivity = 78.57%; specificity = 94.62%], followed by T4 LAVprep (AUC = 0.899; sensitivity = 100%; specificity = 66.67%). The accuracies of LAVprep and LAVprep in predicting cardiac toxicity were higher than those of T3 LAVmin and T3 LAVprep. CONCLUSION: RT3DE of left atrial volume can be used to predict the cardiotoxicity caused by chemotherapy, and it is expected to guide the clinical adjustment of dose and schedule in time.