Echocardiographic Assessment of Left Ventricular Function in Three Oncologic Therapeutic Modalities in Women with Breast Cancer: The ONCO-ECHO Multicenter Study.

Background: Oncological treatment of breast cancer may be associated with adverse effects on myocardial function. Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare the influence of three oncological treatment methods of intervention on the echocardiographic (ECHO) parameters of left ventricular function. Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifty-five women with breast cancer were divided into three groups depending on the type of therapy used: group I (AC)-anthracyclines; group II (AC + TZ)-anthracyclines + trastuzumab; and group III (RTls+)-anthracyclines with or without trastuzumab + left-sided radiotherapy. Prospective ECHO examinations were performed at baseline and every 3 months, up to 12 months from the start of the therapy. Patients with a history of chemotherapy or who were diagnosed with heart disease were not included in the study. Results: Out of 155 patients, 3 died due to cancer as the primary cause, and 12 withdrew their consent for further observation. Baseline systolic and diastolic ECHO parameters did not differ between the analyzed groups. Cardiotoxicity, according to the LVEF criteria, occurred during follow-up in 20 patients (14.3%), irrespective of the treatment method used. Diastolic echocardiographic parameters did not change significantly after 12 months in each group, except for the left atrial volume index (LAVi), which was significantly higher in the AC + TZ compared to the values in the RTls+ group. Conclusions: All three oncologic therapeutic modalities in women with breast cancer showed no significant differences in relation to the incidence of echocardiographic cardiotoxicity criterion; however, transient systolic decrease in LVEF was most frequently observed in the AC + TZ therapeutic regimen. Left-sided radiotherapy was not associated with excess left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction during a 12-month follow-up period. The predictors of negative changes in diastolic parameters included age and combined anthracycline and trastuzumab therapy.

Efficacy of AutoPulse for Mechanical Chest Compression in Patients with Shock-Resistant Ventricular Fibrillation.

INTRODUCTION: Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the most common causes of death. In cases of shock-resistant ventricular fibrillation, immediate transport of patients to the hospital is essential and made possible with use of devices for mechanical chest compression. OBJECTIVES: The efficacy of AutoPulse in patients with shock-resistant ventricular fibrillation was studied. METHODS: This is a multicentre observational study on a population of 480,000, with 192 reported cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The study included patients with shock-resistant ventricular fibrillation defined as cardiac arrest secondary to ventricular fibrillation requiring ≥3 consecutive shocks. Eventually, 18 patients met the study criteria. RESULTS: The mean duration of resuscitation was 48.4±43 min, 55% of patients were handed over to the laboratory while still in cardiac arrest, 83.3% of them underwent angiography and, in 93.3% of them, infarction was confirmed. Coronary intervention was continued during mechanical resuscitation in 50.0% of patients, 60% of patients survived the procedure, and 27.8% of the patients survived. CONCLUSIONS: Resistant ventricular fibrillation suggests high likelihood of a coronary component to the cardiac arrest. AutoPulse is helpful in conducting resuscitation, allowing the time to arrival at hospital to be reduced.

Procedural and 1-year outcomes following large vessel coronary artery perforation treated by covered stents implantation: Multicentre CRACK registry.

BACKGROUND: Data regarding the clinical outcomes of covered stents (CSs) used to seal coronary artery perforations (CAPs) in the all-comer population are scarce. The aim of the CRACK Registry was to evaluate the procedural, 30-days and 1-year outcomes after CAP treated by CS implantation. METHODS: This multicenter all-comer registry included data of consecutive patients with CAP treated by CS implantation. The primary endpoint was the composite of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), defined as cardiac death, target lesion revascularization (TLR), and myocardial infarction (MI). RESULTS: The registry included 119 patients (mean age: 68.9 ± 9.7 years, 55.5% men). Acute coronary syndrome, including: unstable angina 21 (17.6%), NSTEMI 26 (21.8%), and STEMI 26 (21.8%), was the presenting diagnosis in 61.3%, and chronic coronary syndromes in 38.7% of patients. The most common lesion type, according to ACC/AHA classification, was type C lesion in 47 (39.5%) of cases. A total of 52 patients (43.7%) had type 3 Ellis classification, 28 patients (23.5%) had type 2 followed by 39 patients (32.8%) with type 1 perforation. Complex PCI was performed in 73 (61.3%) of patients. Periprocedural death occurred in eight patients (6.7%), of which two patients had emergency cardiac surgery. Those patients were excluded from the one-year analysis. Successful sealing of the perforation was achieved in 99 (83.2%) patients. During the follow-up, 26 (26.2%) patients experienced MACE [7 (7.1%) cardiac deaths, 13 (13.1%) TLR, 11 (11.0%) MIs]. Stent thrombosis (ST) occurred in 6 (6.1%) patients [4(4.0%) acute ST, 1(1.0%) subacute ST and 1(1.0%) late ST]. CONCLUSIONS: The use of covered stents is an effective treatment of CAP. The procedural and 1-year outcomes of CAP treated by CS implantation showed that such patients should remain under follow-up due to relatively high risk of MACE.

A questionnaire-based, multicenter registry of resistant and pseudo-resistant arterial

Introduction: Hypertensive patients with poor blood pressure (BP) control are commonly referred to tertiary centers with a diagnosis of resistant hypertension (RH). The aim of the study was to identify the causes of insufficient BP control and to assess the incidence of true resistant hypertension. Material and Methods: We ran a questionnaire-based, multicenter study (10 high volume tertiary centers in Poland) of patients referred with an initial diagnosis of RH. Only patients with ABPM-confirmed uncontrolled hypertension (systolic ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic ≥90mmHg despite maximal doses of ≥3 medications, including a diuretic) were included. We assessed the causes of non-optimal BP control, a proportion of patients with excluded secondary hypertension, and the burden of hypertension-related complications. Results: We analyzed 124 patients aged 41-88, with a history of hypertension of 17.5±9 years. 90% of them had developed systemic complications, the most common being LV hypertrophy (73.4%) and LV diastolic dysfunction (63.4%). In only 47% all major causes of secondary hypertension were excluded. In 90.3% of subjects, at least one factor affecting BP control was identified. The most frequent factors were medication noncompliance (52.4%), metabolic syndrome (43.6%) excessive sodium intake (66.1%) and chronic administration of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (40%). The incidence of real resistant hypertension was only 4.8%. Conclusions: Among patients referred with uncontrolled hypertension, the incidence of real resistant hypertension is small. A majority of these patients have multiple factors potentially responsible for poor BP control, the most common being medication non-adherence, use of drugs increasing BP, excessive salt intake and metabolic syndrome.

The paradox of the first cycle of chemotherapy-transient improvement of contractility and diastolic function after the first cycle of anthracycline-based chemotherapy: a prospective clinical trial.

AIMS: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, and anthracyclines are the most commonly administered drugs for these patients. Cardiotoxicity is one of the complications, which limits the success of this therapy. Very few studies have evaluated anthracycline toxicities within the first few hours after the first infusion, and the majority of published studies were performed in animal models. The present study aimed to evaluate changes in echocardiographic parameters in women with breast cancer 24 hours after receiving the first dose of an anthracycline. MATERIALS AND METHODS AND RESULTS: The present study included 75 chemotherapy-naive female patients without heart failure, who were diagnosed with breast cancer and were scheduled to undergo anthracycline-based chemotherapy (epirubicin and doxorubicin). During their visits to the Heart Center, the patients underwent detail echocardiographic examination, including assessment of systolic and diastolic function and longitudinal strain. There were no differences in baseline echocardiographic parameters between patients with and those without cardiotoxicity. Cardiotoxicity was observed during follow-up in 14 patients (18.7%). Improvements in left ventricular ejection fraction and global longitudinal strain were observed at 24 hours after administration of the cytotoxic agent in the subgroup of patients without further cardiotoxicity. The changes were transient and the assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction after completion of chemotherapy revealed similar values to those before the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of our study suggest that transient improvement in contractility and systolic and diastolic function might occur 24 hours after anthracycline administration, especially in patients who do not develop cardiotoxicity.

Cardiac safety of systemic therapy in breast cancer patients with high risk of atherosclerosis complications.

AIM: This study was designed to verify the efficacy of breast cancer treatment and its cardiac toxicity in population with significant cardiac comorbidities. MATERIALS & METHODS: Prospective observational study was conducted in 48 patients. RESULTS: The increase and dependence of echocardiographic parameter early/late were observed on hemoglobin level in all patients, and white blood cells and cholesterol in patients with diabetic were reported. Patients undergo left ventricle diameter change on treatment. CONCLUSION: Use of potentially cardiotoxic chemo regimens in breast cancer patients with cardiac comorbidities, with optimized cardiac therapy accordingly can save patients from development of early myocardial dysfunction induced by chemotherapy - limiting factor to minimize the risk is optimization of lipid level, red blood cell count and platelets count.

[The role of biochemical markers with special regard to troponin, CK-MB, NT-proBNP as early biomarkers of cardiotoxicity among women after chemotherapy due to breast cancer].

Introduction: Cardiotoxicity of drugs in oncology is a growing problem which cardiologists and oncologists have to struggle with. So far, researchers have been looking for biochemical markers which could help to extract a group more prone to developing complications after chemotherapy. Authors' reports are inconsistent in this topic. Aim: This study assesses the role of troponin I, CK-MB and NT-proBNP as early predictive markers for later cardiotoxicity among patients with breast cancer treated with chemotherapy. Methods: One hundred five patients with breast cancer, without either heart failure or more than moderate severity of valvular heart diseases were qualified to the study. Results: NT-proBNP concentration significantly increased just after the first cycle of chemotherapy, either in a subgroup which developed cardiotoxicity or without this end point (p<0.001, p=0.004). CK-MB did not change significantly during observation. Troponin I did not change in any of the patients. During observation HDL-cholesterol concentration significantly decreased. A transient increase of the concentration of LDL-cholesterol had been noted, but later it decreased below baseline level. Conclusion: Troponin I has too low sensitivity to be used as a prognostic marker for further cardiotoxicity after chemotherapy. No prognostic values have been noted of NT-proBNP and CK-MB due to the lack of differences in both a subgroup with and without cardiotoxicity.

Prognostic role of troponin and natriuretic peptides as biomarkers for deterioration of left ventricular ejection fraction after chemotherapy.

Cardiotoxicity due to anthracyclines, trastuzumab and other potential cardiotoxic drugs is still a problem of modern chemotherapy. For years researchers have tried to find biological markers that can predict changes in the heart. The most thoroughly tested markers are troponin and natriuretic peptides. Some studies have proven that these markers can indeed be useful. In studies which have shown the predictive role of troponin I the assessment of this marker was performed very frequently. It is not possible to carry out such serial measurements in many centers because of typical 1-day hospital stay times. The predictive role of natriuretic peptides still needs further investigation. This review considers the newest research from recent years.

A Becker myotonia patient with compound heterozygosity for CLCN1 mutations and Prinzmetal angina pectoris.

Becker myotonia is a recessive muscle disease with prevalence of > 1:50,000. It is caused by markedly reduced function of the chloride channel encoded by CLCN1. We describe a Polish patient with severe myotonia, transient weakness, and muscle cramps who only responds to lidocaine. In addition, the patient has Prinzmetal angina pectoris and multiple lipomatosis. He is compound heterozygeous for a novel p.W303X and a frequent p.R894X CLCN1 mutation. CLCN1 exon number variation was excluded by MLPA. His son with latent myotonia was heterozygeous for p.R894X. We discuss the potential relations of the three rare diseases and the inheritance of p.R894X.