Reduced exercise capacity is associated with left ventricular systolic dysfunction in long-term survivors of...

Exercise intolerance is a common complication in survivors of allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The aim of this study was to determine if cardiac function measured with echocardiography is associated with exercise capacity measured with cardio-pulmonary exercise tests in long-term survivors treated in their youth with allo-HSCT.

The study included 96 patients, of which 54.2% were female, aged 34.9 ± 11.6 years and 17.7 ± 9.3 years after allo-HSCT. Reduced exercise capacity was defined as <85% of predicted-peak oxygen uptake (VO_2peak ). Linear regression was used in the prediction of VO_2peak (ml/kg/min). Receiver operating characteristic evaluated the accuracy of predicting reduced exercise capacity.

VO_2peak was 36.2 ± 7.7 ml/kg/min and 43 (44.8%) had reduced exercise capacity. Left ventricular ejection fraction was 55.4 ± 5.9% and global longitudinal strain (GLS) was -17.6% ± 2.0%. Left and right ventricular functions were significantly lower in survivors with reduced exercise capacity. Increased body mass index, lower physical activity score, reduced pulmonary function (by forced expiratory volume in 1-s) and reduced left ventricular systolic function (by GLS) were significant independent predictors for reduced VO_2peak . GLS was superior to other echocardiographical indices for identifying reduced exercise capacity (area under curve = 0.64, p = 0.014).

Left ventricular systolic dysfunction measured by GLS is associated with reduced exercise capacity in long-term allo-HSCT survivors.