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Cardiac Imaging Methods for Chemotherapy-related Cardiotoxicity Screening and Related Radiation Exposure: Current
Bhaskar C Kolla1, Samit Sunny Roy2, Sue Duval2
1Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A. bckolla@umn.edu.
Background:
Radiation exposure is a serious concern with usage of serial multigated acquisition (MUGA) scans (7.8mSv/study) for chemotherapy-related cardiotoxicity (CRC) screening. The current practice with respect to the imaging modalities chosen for cardiotoxicity screening and related radiation exposure has not been studied.
Materials And Methods:
We performed a serial cross-sectional study from 2011 to 2014, evaluating the relative usage of the three imaging modalities for CRC screening.
Results:
MUGA scan usage decreased from 30.4% to 16.7%, echocardiogram (Echo) utilization increased from 68.7% to 80.4% and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) usage increased from 0.9% to 2.9% in the 4-year period. Estimated total radiation exposure and secondary cancer risk can increase significantly in certain subgroups when MUGA scan is employed for serial cardiac imaging.
Conclusion:
Increased awareness of radiation risks from MUGA, as well as increasing focus on early detection of cardiotoxicity using Echo and CMR, are possible reasons behind the observed trends.
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