Doppler echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular diastolic function in patients with primary lung cancer treated with doxorubicin

Eighteen patients were examined by Doppler echocardiography before and after treatment with doxorubicin (DXR). Early left ventricular filling rate descreased from 66+-15 to 51+-10 cm/sec whereas late filling rate increased from 48*-12 to 61+-9 cm/sec (p<0.05) with inversion of the E/A ratio suggesting an impairment of left ventricular diastolic function; conversely no significant changes were found in systolic function indexes. These results suggest that follow-up of patients treated with DXR must include left ventricular diastolic function studies. Doppler echocardiography can be sucessfully used to detect the presence of diastolic abnormalities