The Role of Echocardiography in the Cancer Patient

Purpose of Review

: To review the uses of echocardiography in patients with cancer and how it has expanded beyond the typical monitoring of systolic function during potentially cardiotoxic cancer therapeutics.

Recent Findings

: In addition to myocardial strain imaging being a predictor of subsequent left ventricular dysfunction, it can be used for pattern recognition to help identify patients with cardiac amyloidosis or Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Echocardiography is essential for diagnosis and planning of intervention for aortic stenosis in radiation-induced valvular disease, for which transcutaneous aortic valve replacement that gives many cancer patients that are not surgical candidates an option for treatment. The safety of transesophageal echocardiography has recently been demonstrated in patients with cancer with thrombocytopenia and depleted white blood cell counts who are at increased risk of endocarditis.

Summary

: Echocardiography is an essential tool for evaluating common conditions in cancer patients such as pericardial disease, radiation-induced heart disease, and intracardiac tumors—with specific uses of specialized echocardiography techniques such as deformation imaging, transesophageal echocardiography, and point-of-care ultrasound.