Anthracyclines and Biomarkers of Myocardial Injury: The Effect of Remote Ischemic Conditioning.

Background: Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) has been beneficial in laboratory studies of anthracycline cardiotoxicity, but its effects in patients is not established. Objectives: The authors studied the effect of RIC on cardiac biomarkers and function during and after anthracycline chemotherapy. Methods: The ERIC-Onc study (Effect of Remote Ischaemic Conditioning in Oncology Patients; NCT02471885) was a randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled study of RIC at each chemotherapy cycle. The primary endpoint was troponin T (TnT) during chemotherapy and up to 1 year. Secondary outcomes included cardiac function, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), and MACE or cancer death. Cardiac myosin-binding-protein C (cMyC) was investigated in parallel with TnT. Results: The study was prematurely halted after the evaluation of 55 patients (RIC n = 28, sham n = 27). Biomarkers increased from baseline to cycle 6 of chemotherapy for all patients (median TnT 6 [IQR: 4-9] ng/L to 33 [IQR: 16-36)] ng/L; P ≤ 0.001; cMyC 3 (IQR: 2-5) ng/L to 47 (IQR: 18-49) ng/L; P ≤ 0.001). Mixed-effects regression analysis for repeated measures showed no difference in TnT between the 2 groups (RIC vs sham, mean difference 3.15 ng/L; 95% CI: -0.04 to 6.33; P = 0.053), or cMyC (RIC vs sham, mean difference 4.17 ng/L; 95% CI: -0.12 to 8.45; P = 0.056). There were more MACE and cancer deaths in the RIC group (11 vs 3; HR: 0.25; 95% CI: 0.07-0.90; P = 0.034), with more cancer deaths (8 vs 1; HR: 0.21; 95% CI: 0.04-0.95; P = 0.043) at 1 year. Conclusions: TnT and cMyC significantly increased during anthracycline chemotherapy with 81% having a TnT ≥14 ng/L at cycle 6. RIC did not affect the rise in biomarkers, but there was a small increase in early cancer deaths, possibly related to the greater proportion of patients with metastatic disease randomized to the RIC group (54%vs 37%). (Effect of Remote Ischaemic Conditioning in Oncology Patients [ERIC-ONC]; NCT02471885).

Cardio-oncology for the general physician: 'old' and 'new' cardiovascular toxicities and how to manage them.

Cardio-oncology is the care of cancer patients with cardiovascular disease. The need for a dedicated subspecialty emerged to address heart failure caused by drugs such as anthracyclines and anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) therapies, but over time has expanded into an exciting subspecialty with widening horizons. While still dealing with a lot of commonly recognised toxicities, such as heart failure, hypertension and coronary disease, new and revolutionary cancer therapies have been associated with challenging cardiovascular complications, requiring specialist input to manage effectively. Echocardiography is a key investigation, with advanced techniques such as three-dimensional and strain assessment allowing more accurate diagnosis and earlier detection of subtle changes. Cardiac magnetic resonance and biomarkers are useful adjuncts to aid diagnosis and management. With increasing cancer incidence and improved cancer survival rates, it is important that general cardiologists and physicians are aware of cardiac complications associated with cancer and how to manage them.

An Incidental Finding at Transplant Assessment: Case Report.

A 43-year-old woman with chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis was referred for lung transplant assessment. An echocardiogram as part of her work-up revealed a large left atrial myxoma, presenting a conundrum on how best to manage her combined pathology. Because of the level of pulmonary disease, early intervention to remove the myxoma was not thought be viable without postoperative support. Use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to bridge patients for lung transplant is feasible, yet risks increased perioperative mortality. We present the first reported case of simultaneous cardiac myxoma removal and lung transplant.

An uncommon complication of atrial fibrillation.

Coronary embolism is a well-recognized cause of myocardial infarction. It is often under diagnosed and cardiologists need to be vigilant for this diagnosis. A 77-year-old man presented with chest pain with an ECG showing a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation. Owing to ongoing chest pain coronary angiography was performed and revealed an acute occlusion of the left circumflex artery with coronary blood flow restored following aspiration of a large red thrombus. Following this the coronary vessel looked smooth with no residual coronary lesions requiring angioplasty or plaque rupture to justify the thrombosis. The clinical picture and angiographic data suggested the coronary embolus was secondary to the newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation.