Introduction: High-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation result in direct and indirect changes in cardiac function. the finding suggests a decreased left ventricular diastolic compliance after high-dose cyclophosphamide treatment, but the effects of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) on cardiac diastolic function are less studied. We aimed to evaluate changes before and after the procedure in cardiac diastolic function in patients undergoing BMT.
Design and methods: We designed this study to evaluate the effects of BMT on diastolic cardiac function. Patients with lymphoma (Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's), multiple myeloma, and solid tumors who were candidates for autologous BMT were selected for the study. The patients underwent a cardiac consultation and echocardiography before their admission for BMT. E-wave velocity and time to relaxation by tissue Doppler echocardiography in the septal, lateral, anterior, inferior, anteroseptal, and posterior wall; and the E-wave velocity of the right ventricle (RV) were measured before and after BMT.
Result: Thirty patients fulfilled our inclusion criteria and entered the study. The mean diastolic function measures were calculated before and after BMT. E-wave velocity in the septal, lateral, anterior, inferior, anteroseptal and posterior walls after transplantation decreased by 19.2% (p=0.008), 14.5% (p=0.008), 22.19% (p=0.3), 18.9% (p<0.001), 21.9% (p=0.01), and 7.5% (p=0.01), respectively. The time to relaxation decreased by 13.5%, 13.7%, 12.4%, 11.4%, 11.1%, and 13.1%, respectively, after transplantation (p<0.001). E-wave velocity of RV decreased 15.6% after BMT (p=0.02).
Conclusion: Data regarding alterations in diastolic functioning after BMT are scarce. This study suggests that diastolic function alters after BMT.
Keywords: Bone marrow transplantation; echocardiography; tissue Doppler.