The evolution of cardiac function in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma under chemotherapy

Abstract

Introduction: In clinical practice, the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) often involves the combination of several chemotherapy agents, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. While these multimodal approaches improve the efficacy of pathology-specific treatment, they also increase the risk of cardiovascular complications, the most common of which is ventricular dysfunction induced by anti-tumor therapy. Aim of the study: Evaluation of the impact of anti-tumor treatment of NHL on the trajectory of left and right ventricular echocardiographic function. Materials and methods: 127 randomly selected patients from the hematology departments of the PSMI Institute of Oncology were included in the study. Patients were investigated during 3 visits by comprehensive echocardiography, the first visit was up to the onset of anti-tumoral treatment, the 2nd visit was 1 month after initiation and the 3rd visit at 6 months after the debut of chemotherapy. Results: During the anti-tumor treatment, a statistically significant decrease in left ventricular systolic indicators was attested by following parameters: left ventricular ejection fraction (LV EF), mean left ventricular S’, the ratio between the maximum velocity of the E wave and the flow propagation velocity (E/Vp), with an ANOVA p-value <0.001. Regarding the right ventricular systolic function, the indices reflected by TAPSE and S’ right ventricular free wall were reduced statistically significantly also (p ANOVA <0.001). The given analysis confirmed the impairment of ventricular relaxation throughout the treatment, the increase in left ventricular filling pressures, the ratio E/A and E/e’ showed a statisticallysignificant increase, parameters such as the deceleration time of the E wave, the relaxation isovolumetric time, the ratio e’/a’ did not register a statistically significant dynamic (p ANOVA = 0,897; 0,705 and 0,145 respectively). 6 months after the start of treatment, cardiac dysfunction associated with cancer therapy (CTRCD) was found in 18 patients (14,2%), 8 (6,3%) presented a moderate asymptomatic form, 7 (5,7%) had a mild asymptomatic form and 3 (2,4%) a symptomatic one.Conclusion: The left ventricular systolic function was statistically significantly reduced under the impact of the applied treatment, which was confirmed by the LV EF, the mean S’ value at the LV and the E/Vp ratio, the diastolic function having an impact through the E/A and E/e’ ratio. Regarding the function of the right ventricle, we attested statistically significant changes only in the longitudinal contraction parameters. CTRCD was confirmed in 18 patients.