Your healthcare provider will tell you what to expect. This is an imaging test that uses ultrasound sound waves to take pictures of your heart. An electrocardiogram shows the electrical activity of your heart. It shows things such as how fast your heart is beating and if you have an arrhythmia. During this test, your healthcare provider will place sensors electrodes on your chest, arms, legs, or all 3. The sensors will show how your heart is working. During this procedure, your healthcare provider will insert a thin catheter long, flexible tube into a blood vessel in your arm or leg and move it up to your heart.
Once the end of the catheter is in your heart, your healthcare provider will put a special dye into the arteries of your heart. This can help your healthcare provider find out if there are any blockages in your heart or blood vessels.
This test uses a magnetic field and radio waves to make an image of your heart. This can show your healthcare provider how your heart functions. This test may also be done with an echo test as well. Cardiomyopathy can be treated with medications, implanted devices, a heart transplant, and sometimes all 3.
Your cardiologist heart doctor will help you decide which treatment is best for you. Some studies have shown that cancer patients who are already on a statin drug when they receive chemotherapy have a lower incidence of heart failure, compared to people who do not take statins. However, research has not confirmed that statins are fully protective, Storozynsky said. Women seem to be most at risk; physicians are not sure why. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are increasing the number of people who survive cancer.
However, they can also cause these same people to develop cardiovascular disease. Radiation therapy can cause heart attack, heart failure, and arrhythmias. Traditional and novel chemotherapy agents can damage the heart or peripheral blood vessels, or cause problems with clotting or blood lipids. Some serious cardiovascular effects occur while the chemotherapy is being given; others appear long after cancer has become a distant memory. But with the new anticancer agents, an increasing amount of cardiac toxicity is being observed," says Dr.
Mandeep R. The list of undesirable effects caused by a growing inventory of antitumor agents has overwhelmed the ability of cardiologists and medical oncologists to keep pace with heart-protection strategies.
As a result, a new specialty has emerged to fill the gap. Cardio-oncology is a partnership of cardiologists and oncologists who combine their knowledge to help protect the hearts of people undergoing cancer treatment. The cardiovascular side effects that arise from cancer therapy are frightening. Some chemotherapy agents cause the heart muscle to weaken soon after chemotherapy begins. Novel angiogenesis inhibitors that suppress new blood vessel formation cause blood pressure to rise dramatically and may increase the risk of blood clots and heart failure.
Hormonal therapies can cause stroke, heart attacks, and blood clots. Other agents can trigger low blood flow to the heart ischemia , heart attack, arrhythmias, or inflammation of the sac around the heart. When a severe reaction occurs while a drug is being infused, it may be necessary to stop the treatment.
Mehra and his cardio-oncology colleagues Dr. Anju Nohria and Dr. Javid Moslehi at Brigham and Women's, along with oncologists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Center, are leading an effort to learn more about the effects of anticancer agents on the heart and cardiovascular system. While the oncologists test anticancer agents in clinical trials, the scientists are investigating the effects of these agents on the heart before the agents are released for widespread use, and the cardio-oncologists are searching for ways to counteract these effects.
In addition to preventing heart disease in people undergoing cancer therapy, it is equally important to understand the impact of chemotherapy on people with heart disease and their medications. Some angiogenesis inhibitors may render clopidogrel Plavix less effective. People using blood thinners may experience excessive bleeding when their platelet counts fall as a result of cancer treatment. Certain chemotherapy agents may interact with warfarin Coumadin , making it less effective in preventing blood clots.
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