Assessment of Global Cardiac Function Using AutoSTRAIN Automatic Strain Quantitative Technology in Patients With Breast Cancer Undergoing Anthracycline-Based Chemotherapy

In patients with breast cancer undergoing anthracycline-based chemotherapy, we investigated the deformational parameters of the left ventricle, right ventricle and left atrium, as well as the relationship between these parameters. Ninety-five patients with breast cancer who were treated with anthracycline-based chemotherapy were enrolled. The control group included 116 healthy female volunteers. Parameters including left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS); right ventricular free wall longitudinal strain (RVFWSL) and global longitudinal strain (RV4CSL); and peak strain of the left atrium during LV systole (LASR), early LV diastole (LASCD) and late LV diastole (LASCT) were analyzed by speckle tacking echocardiography. LV-GLS, LASR, LASCD, RVFWSL and RV4CSL in the chemotherapy group decreased significantly by 15.6%, 13.8%, 19.8%, 21.8% and 13.2% (p < 0.05), respectively, when compared with the control group. LASCT was slightly increased in the chemotherapy group but the increase was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Formulas for the influencing factors of LV-GLS were LV-GLS = -18.73738541 + 0.13961 × LVIDd + 0.09672 × LASCD + 0.18113 × RVFWSL in the control group and LV-GLS = -8.026302253 + 0.20811 × LASCD + 0.11084 × LASCT + 0.12153 × RVFWSL in the chemotherapy group. Both LV contraction and RV contraction were impaired after the completion of anthracycline-based therapy, and RVFWSL may be superior to LV-GLS in assessing cardiotoxicity. LA reserve and channel function were significantly reduced, while pump function was slightly increased. Compared with the results among healthy people, the influencing factor of LV-GLS varied after anthracycline treatment, and LA function had a greater impact on LV-GLS.