Additive Effect of Mediastinal Radiotherapy on Subclinical Cardiac Dysfunction in Bone Marrow Transplant Patients

Background: Strain analysis is a novel non–invasive modality to evaluate subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in patients who have received chemotherapy. There is evidence that adjuvant radiotherapy (RTx) has an additive effect on LV dysfunction. We hypothesised that mediastinal RT results in a further reduction in global longitudinal strain in patients who have received a bone marrow transplant (BMT).