Cardiac computed tomography-derived extracellular volume fraction in late anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity

Cardiotoxicity in the late phase after anthracycline drugs administration remains to be defined. Of the 44 patients who received anthracycline treatment, 7 were found to have cancer therapeutics–related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD). The global longitudinal strain determined by echocardiography and myocardial extracellular volume fraction (ECV) determined by cardiac computed tomography (CCT) of the CTRCD(+) group were significantly higher than those of the control group and CTRCD(-) group, whereas there were no significant differences between the control and CTRCD(-) groups. Our findings indicated that CCT may be a tool comparable to echocardiography, indicating the effective evaluation of CTRCD by CCT.