Tissue velocity imaging and strain imaging can predict preclinical changes in left ventricular (LV) systolic function before a patient experiences a change in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), according to a prospective study in HER2-positive patients receiving trastuzumab in the adjuvant setting. Cardiac biomarkers, however, did not predict the development of cardiac dysfunction. Based on these findings in 42 patients followed for 1 year, the researchers concluded that this ability to detect trastuzumab-mediated cardiotoxicity early with noninvasive imaging could benefit patients by allowing treatment adjustments and/or prophylactic administration before a patient developed irreversible cardiac dysfunction.
The complete study is published in the May 31, 2011, edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/abstract/57/22/2263).
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