Echocardiography
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Observational Study
Subclinical anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in long-term follow-up of asymptomatic childhood cancer survivors: Assessment by speckle tracking echocardiography.
Survivors of childhood cancer treated with anthracyclines carry the risk for developing late-onset cardiotoxicity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate left ventricular (LV) function in this patient group and compare it with healthy controls by means of conventional and speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) after exposure to chemotherapy. ⋯ Despite normal EF and FS, children exposed to anthracycline therapy may have late-onset subtle changes of LV strain values measured by STE. Whether these changes of strain can predict future risk of developing heart failure needs to be explored in further studies.