Phase analysis of gated myocardial perfusion imaging for early diagnosis of cardiotoxicity caused by anthracyclines in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the left ventricular systolic synchrony and investigate the early diagnostic value of left ventricular systolic dyssynchrony on cardiotoxicity caused by anthracyclines in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Methods Thirty-two patients (22 males, 10 females, age: 22-73(54.4±14.2) years) from June 2016 to January 2019 with confirmed DLBCL and normal gated myocardial perfusion imaging (GMPI) before anthracyclines chemotherapy were enrolled prospectively. GMPI was performed after 6 cycles or more of chemotherapy. Changes of myocardial markers, electrocardiogram (ECG) indicators, left ventricular function indicators including left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), peak filling rate (PFR), summed motion score (SMS) and summed thickening score (STS) as well as left ventricular systolic synchrony indicators including phase bandwidth (BW), phase standard deviation (SD) and entropy before and after anthracyclines chemotherapy were analyzed. Paired t test, Wilcoxon signed rank test and χ2 test were used for data analysis. Results Compared with pre-chemotherapy, the left ventricular systolic synchrony indicators were significantly higher than those before chemotherapy (BW: (42.81±11.37)° vs (29.28±8.68)°; SD: (11.65±4.64)° vs (8.79±3.14)°; entropy: (39.84±5.51)% vs (36.19±5.94)%; t values: -9.132 to -3.173, all P 0.05). Of 32 patients, 13 patients (40.62%) had left ventricular systolic dyssynchrony, and the rate of chemotherapy-induced left ventricular systolic dyssynchrony was significantly higher than that of left ventricular dysfunction (15.62%, 5/32; χ2=4.947, P=0.025). All 5 patients with left ventricular dysfunction caused by chemotherapy had left ventricular systolic dyssynchrony. The LVEF of the chemotherapy-induced left ventricular systolic dyssynchrony group was significantly lower than that of the left ventricular systolic synchronization group ((54.54±9.25)% vs (66.79±7.65)%; t=4.087, P<0.01). Conclusion Left ventricular systolic dyssynchrony can be appeared in DLBCL patients after chemotherapy and is significantly earlier than left ventricular dysfunction, which can be an early indicator of cardiotoxicity caused by anthracycline chemotherapy. Key words: Lymphoma, large B cell, diffuse; Drug therapy, combination; Anthracyclines; Ventricular function, left; Myocardial perfusion imaging