Newest echocardiographic techniques for the detection of cardiotoxicity and heart failure during chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity has become a significant public health issue. Left ventricular ejection fraction is routinely used to monitor cardiotoxicity but fails to detect subtle alterations in cardiac function. Improvements in the measurement of left ventricular ejection fraction, physical or pharmacologic stressors, and novel cardiac functional indices may be useful in the detection of cardiotoxicity. The improvements in the detection and therapy of cancer have led to the emergence of chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity. New echocardiographic techniques may be useful in the detection of patients undergoing chemotherapy treatments who could benefit from alternative cancer treatments, therefore decreasing the incidence of cardiotoxicity.