Stem cells
Cardiac Systolic Function in Patients Receiving Hematopoetic Stem Cell Transplantation: Risk Factors for Posttransplantation Cardiac Toxicity

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transproceed.2007.11.077Get rights and content

Abstract

One hundred eleven patients who received 125 hematopoetic stem cell transplantations (HSCT) with myeloablative conditioning regimens were retrospectively evaluated for the development of cardiac toxicity (CT). The aims of this study were to assess the frequency of cardiac complications in patients receiving HSCT and to investigate the value of pretransplantation variables to predict posttransplantation CT. Severe grade III–IV CT was not observed in this cohort, in whom pretransplantation eligibility criteria excluded the patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 50% or less. Grade I–II CT was seen in 13.4% patients. Patients with a history of previous mediastinal radiotherapy, high doses of anthracycyclines, and a longer interval between diagnosis and treatment were found to have higher risk of developing CT. Pretransplantation ferritin levels and the type of HSCT did not seem to have an effect on posttransplantation cardiac complications. Our results indicated that CT was managable in patients with a LVEF of at least 50%.

Section snippets

Patients

We retrospectively analyzed the acute CT in 111 consecutive patients (43 females, 68 males) who had undergone 125 HSCTs, including 14 patients with double/tandem transplants between September 2003 and December 2006. Of the 125 HSCT, 52 were autologous and 73 allogeneic transplants. Twenty-six patients had acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 15 had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 35 had multiple myeloma (MM), 10 had severe aplastic anemia (SAA), 8 had non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL), 13 had Hodgkin's

Results

Before HSCT, the LVEF evaluated by echocardiography was ≥50% in all patients (range, 50–77; mean %, 65.9 ± 5.1) and the mean LVEF evaluated with RVG was 55.6 ± 7.4 (range, 36.0–74.0; n = 92). Pretransplantation LVEF values measured with echocardiography significantly correlated with RVG (P = .02). CT was diagnosed in 17 (13.4%) patients. There was grade I CT in 11 patients (8.7%), and grade II in 6 patients (4.7%). Three patients had asymptomatic, repeating, temporary arrythmias; 6 patients had

Discussion

High-dose cytotoxic chemoradiotherapy is a major challenge for organ functions. Lung, kidneys, liver, and gastrointestinal mucosa are particularly vulnerable to the myeloablative conditioning protocols of HSCT. CT is relatively less frequent in HSCT patients compared with other major organ toxicities. Similarly, we have not seen grade III–IV CT in our cohort of 125 HSCT, whereas grade I–II toxicities were seen in 13.4% of patients. Considering the fact that most patients received high-dose

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