In the last decade, ultrasound deformation imaging, based on both Doppler and speckle tracking echocardiography techniques, has emerged as a more sensitive tool to identify subtle and subclinical left ventricular systolic dysfunction in several clinical settings compared with ejection fraction. In this article, we review the evidence relative to the application of ultrasound deformation imaging to the oncologic field for detection of left ventricular systolic dysfunction induced by cardiotoxic treatments with the aim of verifying whether this approach may actually help in early diagnosis of chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity.
Keywords: Anthracyclines; Cardiotoxicity; Chemotherapy; Speckle tracking echocardiography; Trastuzumab.
Copyright © 2015 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.