Cardiac imaging in cardiotoxicity: a focus on clinical practice

Cancer therapeutics induced cardiotoxicity has emerged as an important factor of long-term adverse cardiovascular outcomes in survivors of various malignant diseases. Early detection of myocardial injury in the setting of cancer treatment is important for the initiation of targeted cardioprotective therapy, in order to prevent irreversible cardiac dysfunction and heart failure, while not withholding a potentially life-saving cancer therapy. Cardiac imaging techniques including echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance, and nuclear cardiac imaging are the main tools for the identification of cardiotoxicity. There is also growing evidence for the detection of subclinical cardiac dysfunction in cancer patients by speckle tracking echocardiography. In this review article, we focus on current and emerging data regarding the role of cardiac imaging for the detection of changes in myocardial function related with cancer treatment in clinical practice.