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Background: Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are associated with life-threatening myocarditis but milder presentations are increasingly recognized. The same autoimmune process that causes ICI-myocarditis can manifest concurrent generalized myositis, myasthenia-like syndrome, and respiratory muscle failure. Prognostic factors for this "cardiomyotoxicity" are lacking., Methods: A multicenter registry collected data retrospectively from 17 countries between 2014-2023. A multivariable cox regression model (hazard-ratio(HR), [ 95% confidence-interval]) was used to determine risk factors for the primary composite outcome: severe arrhythmia, heart failure, respiratory muscle failure, and/or cardiomyotoxicity-related death. Covariates included demographics, comorbidities, cardio-muscular symptoms, diagnostics, and treatments. Time-dependent covariates were used and missing data were imputed. A point-based prognostic risk score was derived and externally validated., Results: In 748 patients (67% male, age 23-94), 30-days incidence of the primary composite outcome, cardiomyotoxic death, and overall death were 33%, 13%, and 17% respectively. By multivariable analysis, the primary composite outcome was associated with active thymoma (HR=3.60[1.93-6.72]), presence of cardio-muscular symptoms (HR=2.60 [1.58-4.28]), low QRS-voltage on presenting electrocardiogram (HR for ≤0.5mV versus >1mV=2.08[1.31-3.30]), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <50% (HR=1.78[1.22-2.60]), and incremental troponin elevation (HR=1.86 [1.44-2.39], 2.99[1.91-4.65], 4.80[2.54-9.08], for 20, 200 and 2000-fold above upper reference limit, respectively). A prognostic risk score developed using these parameters showed good performance; 30-days primary outcome incidence increased gradually from 3.9%(risk-score=0) to 81.3%(risk-score≥4). This risk-score was externally validated in two independent French and US cohorts. This risk score was used prospectively in the external French cohort to identify low risk patients who were managed with no immunosuppression resulting in no cardio-myotoxic events., Conclusions: ICI-myocarditis can manifest with high morbidity and mortality. Myocarditis severity is associated with magnitude of troponin, thymoma, low-QRS voltage, depressed LVEF, and cardio-muscular symptoms. A risk-score incorporating these features performed well., Trial Registration Number: NCT04294771 and NCT05454527.

Background: Echocardiographic parameters have been poorly investigated for estimating cardiovascular risk in patients with sepsis and new-onset atrial fibrillation. We aim to assess the prevalence of transesophageal echocardiographic abnormalities and their relationship with cardiovascular events in mechanically ventilated patients with sepsis and new-onset atrial fibrillation., Methods: In this prospective multicenter pilot study, left atrial/left atrial appendage (LA/LAA) dysfunction, severe aortic atheroma, and left ventricular systolic dysfunction were assessed using an initial transesophageal echocardiographic study, which was repeated after 48-72 h to detect LA/LAA thrombus formation. The study outcome was a composite of cardiovascular events at day 28, including arterial thromboembolic events (ischemic stroke, non-cerebrovascular arterial thromboembolism, LA/LAA thrombus), major bleeding, and all-cause death., Results: The study population comprised 94 patients (septic shock 63%; 35% women; median age 69 years). LA/LAA dysfunction, severe aortic atheroma, and left ventricular systolic dysfunction were detected in 17 (19%), 22 (24%), and 27 (29%) patients, respectively. At day 28, the incidence of cardiovascular events was 46% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 35 to 56). Arterial thromboembolic events and major bleeding occurred in 7 (7%) patients (5 ischemic strokes, 1 non-cerebrovascular arterial thromboembolism, 2 left atrial appendage thrombi) and 18 (19%) patients, respectively. At day 28, 27 patients (29%) died. Septic shock (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.36; 95% CI 1.06 to 5.29) and left ventricular systolic dysfunction (HR: 2.06; 95% CI 1.05 to 4.05) were independently associated with cardiovascular events., Conclusions: Transesophageal echocardiographic abnormalities are common in mechanically ventilated patients with sepsis and new-onset atrial fibrillation, but only left ventricular systolic dysfunction was associated with cardiovascular events at day 28., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Myocarditis is a potentially fatal complication of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. Data on the utility of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) T1 and T2 mapping in ICI myocarditis are limited., Objectives: This study sought to assess the value of CMR T1 and T2 mapping in patients with ICI myocarditis., Methods: In this retrospective study from an international registry of patients with ICI myocarditis, clinical and CMR findings (including T1 and T2 maps) were collected. Abnormal T1 and T2 were defined as 2 SD above site (vendor/field strength specific) reference values and a z-score was calculated for each patient. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were a composite of cardiovascular death, cardiogenic shock, cardiac arrest, and complete heart block., Results: Of 136 patients with ICI myocarditis with a CMR, 86 (63%) had T1 maps and 79 (58%) also had T2 maps. Among the 86 patients (66.3 ± 13.1 years of age), 36 (41.9%) had a left ventricular ejection fraction <55%. Across all patients, mean z-scores for T1 and T2 values were 2.9 ± 1.9 (p < 0.001) and 2.2 ± 2.1 (p < 0.001), respectively. On Siemens 1.5-T scanner (n = 67), native T1 (1,079.0 ± 55.5 ms vs. 1,000.3 ± 22.1 ms; p < 0.001) and T2 (56.2 ± 4.9 ms vs. 49.8 ± 2.2 ms; p < 0.001) values were elevated compared with reference values. Abnormal T1 and T2 values were seen in 78% and 43% of the patients, respectively. Applying the modified Lake Louise Criteria, 95% met the nonischemic myocardial injury criteria and 53% met the myocardial edema criteria. Native T1 values had excellent discriminatory value for subsequent MACE, with an area under the curve of 0.91 (95% confidence interval: 0.84 to 0.98). Native T1 values (for every 1-unit increase in z-score, hazard ratio: 1.44; 95% confidence interval: 1.12 to 1.84; p = 0.004) but not T2 values were independently associated with subsequent MACE., Conclusions: The use of T1 mapping and application of the modified Lake Louise Criteria provides important diagnostic value, and T1 mapping provides prognostic value in patients with ICI myocarditis., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures Dr. Thavendiranathan was supported, in part, through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award (FRN 147814) and a Canada Research Chair in Cardio-Oncology. This work is supported by the New York Academy of Medicine's Glorney-Raisbeck Award to Dr. Mahmood. Dr. Sullivan was supported, in part, through the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (RO1CA229851, UH2CA207355, RO1CA193970). Dr. C.L. Chen, and Dr. D. Gupta were supported, in part, through the NIH/National Cancer Institute P30CA008748. Dr. Neilan was supported, in part, through the Kohlberg Foundation, the NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (RO1HL130539, RO1HL137562, and K24HL150238), and the NIH/Harvard Center for AIDS Research (P30 AI060354). Dr. Thavendiranathan has received Speakers Bureau fees from Amgen, Takeda, and BI. Dr. Mahmood has received consulting fees from OMR Globus, Alpha Detail, and Opinion Research Team. Dr. Nohria has received research grant support from Amgen; and has served a consultant for Takeda Oncology. Dr. Heinzerling has received consulting, advisory board, and speaker fees from MSD, BMS, Roche, Novartis, Amgen, and Curevac. Dr. Sullivan has served as a consultant for Merck and Novartis. Dr. Groarke has received research support from Amgen. Dr. Neilan has received advisory fees from Parexel, BMS, H3 Biomedicine, AbbVie, and Intrinsic Imaging. Dr. Neilan has received grant support from AstraZeneca. Dr. Wintersperger has received research support and speaker honoraria from Siemens Healthineers (the University Health Network has a master research agreement with Siemens Healthineers); and is an inventor of the IG fitting method owned by the University Health Network (US10314548B2). Dr. Yang has received research funding from CSL Behring. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Myocarditis is a highly morbid complication of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) use that remains inadequately characterized. The QRS duration and the QTc interval are standardized electrocardiographic measures that are prolonged in other cardiac conditions; however, there are no data on their utility in ICI myocarditis., Methods: From an international registry, ECG parameters were compared between 140 myocarditis cases and 179 controls across multiple time points (pre-ICI, on ICI prior to myocarditis, and at the time of myocarditis). The association between ECG values and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) was also tested., Results: Both the QRS duration and QTc interval were similar between cases and controls prior to myocarditis. When compared with controls on an ICI (93±19 ms) or to baseline prior to myocarditis (97±19 ms), the QRS duration prolonged with myocarditis (110±22 ms, p<0.001 and p=0.009, respectively). In contrast, the QTc interval at the time of myocarditis (435±39 ms) was not increased compared with pre-myocarditis baseline (422±27 ms, p=0.42). A prolonged QRS duration conferred an increased risk of subsequent MACE (HR 3.28, 95% CI 1.98 to 5.62, p<0.001). After adjustment, each 10 ms increase in the QRS duration conferred a 1.3-fold increase in the odds of MACE (95% CI 1.07 to 1.61, p=0.011). Conversely, there was no association between the QTc interval and MACE among men (HR 1.33, 95% CI 0.70 to 2.53, p=0.38) or women (HR 1.48, 95% CI 0.61 to 3.58, p=0.39)., Conclusions: The QRS duration is increased in ICI myocarditis and is associated with increased MACE risk. Use of this widely available ECG parameter may aid in ICI myocarditis diagnosis and risk-stratification., Competing Interests: Competing interests: SSM has received consultancy fees from OMR Globus, Alpha Detail, and Opinion Research Team. RS has been a consultant to Merck and Novartis. LH has received consultancy, advisory board, and speaker fees from MSD, BMS, Roche, Novartis, Amgen, and Curevac. LZu has been a consultant to Merck. JG has received research support from Amgen. AN has received research support from Amgen and has been a consultant for Takeda Oncology and AstraZeneca. TGN has received advisory fees from Parexel, AbbVie, H3-Biomedicine, Aprea Therapeutics, BMS, and Intrinsic Imaging. TGN has received grant funding from AstraZeneca., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

An increasing number of studies of left ventricular myocardial deformation have been published. Layer-specific strain using speckle tracking echocardiography to evaluate left ventricular function is not recommended in clinical practice. However, evaluation of myocardial mechanics using longitudinal and circumferential layer-specific strain enables the detection of subclinical impairment of myocardial deformation in various diseases. Unfortunately, normal values for longitudinal and circumferential strain have not been clearly defined. In normal subjects, layer-specific strain decreases from the endocardial to the epicardial layer, and from the apex to the base of the left ventricle. Although various studies have tried to define normal values for each layer in healthy subjects, studies with more subjects are needed. This tool has good reproducibility in terms of intraobserver and interobserver variability, but, as with monolayer strain, it has poor intervendor variability. Efforts that aim for standardization between vendors will be required before widespread use of this technique can be advocated., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) can be used to detect the presence of left atrial thrombus and left atrial spontaneous echocardiographic contrast (LASEC)., Aim: To evaluate the prognostic value of TTE and TOE in predicting stroke and all-cause death at 5-year follow-up in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF)., Methods: This study included patients hospitalised with electrocardiography-diagnosed NVAF in Saint-Antoine University Hospital, Paris, between July 1998 and December 2011, who underwent TTE and TOE evaluation within 24hours of admission. Cox proportional-hazards models were used to identify predictors of the composite outcome (stroke or all-cause death)., Results: During 5 years of follow-up, stroke/death occurred in 185/903 patients (20.5%). By multivariable analysis, independent predictors of stroke/death were CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score (hazard ratio [HR] 1.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-1.47; P<0.001), left atrial area>20 cm 2 (HR 1.59, 95% CI 1.08-2.35; P=0.018), moderate LASEC (HR 1.72, 95% CI 1.13-2.62; P=0.012) and severe LASEC (HR 2.04, 95% CI 1.16-3.58; P=0.013). Independent protective predictors were dyslipidaemia (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.43-0.83; P=0.002) and discharge prescription of anti-arrhythmics (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.40-0.87; P=0.008). Adding LASEC to the CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score modestly improved predictive accuracy and risk classification, with a C index of 0.71 vs. 0.69 (P=0.004)., Conclusions: In this retrospective monocentric study, the presence of moderate/severe LASEC was an independent predictor of stroke/death at 5-year follow-up in patients with NVAF. The inclusion of LASEC in stroke risk scores could modestly improve risk stratification., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Background: Cancer and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have important prognostic consequences. Treatment of some cancers may affect coronary artery disease, myocardial function and/or AMI management. Whether the early and long-term mortality of patients with AMI differ according to their history of cancer remains questionable., Aims: To determine in-hospital outcomes and 5-year mortality following AMI according to patient history of cancer., Methods: The FAST-MI registry is a nationwide French survey collecting data on characteristics, management and outcomes of 3670 consecutive patients admitted for AMI during October 2005., Results: Overall, 246/3664 patients (6.7%) admitted for an AMI (47.6% with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI]; 52.4% with non-STEMI [NSTEMI]) had a history of cancer. In-hospital mortality was not significantly different for patients with versus without a history of cancer, overall (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68-1.94; P=0.61) and in patients with STEMI (adjusted OR: 1.37, 95% CI: 0.69-2.71; P=0.37) or NSTEMI (adjusted OR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.41-2.28; P=0.95). All-cause mortality at 5 years was higher among patients with a history of cancer (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.08-1.69; P=0.008), whereas 5-year cardiovascular mortality did not differ (adjusted HR: 1.17, 95% CI: 0.89-1.53; P=0.25), regardless of whether the patients had STEMI or NSTEMI. Similar results were found in populations matched on a propensity score including baseline characteristics and early management., Conclusion: A history of cancer, per se, does not appear to be a risk factor for increased in-hospital mortality or long-term cardiovascular mortality in patients admitted for AMI., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Background: Atrial remodelling has been poorly investigated in atrial fibrillation (AF), and few studies have focused on biatrial remodelling., Aim: To evaluate right atrial (RA) and left atrial (LA) remodelling in AF using global atrial reservoir strain and three-dimensional (3D) atrial volumes, according to rhythm outcome at mid-term follow-up., Methods: Two-dimensional and 3D transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were performed within 24hours after admission (M0) and at 6-month follow-up (M6) in patients admitted for AF. RA and LA variables were assessed: body surface area-indexed maximum 3D volume (Max 3D RA Vol i , Max 3D LA Vol i ) and minimum 3D volume (Min 3D RA Vol i , Min 3D LA Vol i ); atrial emptying fraction (3D RAEF, 3D LAEF); atrial expansion index (3D RAEI, 3D LAEI); and global RA and LA reservoir strain., Results: Forty-eight consecutive patients were included prospectively. Three groups were identified depending on rhythm at M0 and M6: AF at M0 and sinus rhythm (SR) at M6 (AF-SR) in 25 (52.1%) patients; AF at M0 and AF at M6 (AF-AF) in 13 (27.1%) patients; and SR at M0 (spontaneous cardioversion before first TTE) and SR at M6 (SR-SR) in 10 (20.8%) patients. Between M0 and M6 in the AF-SR group, we found: significant decreases in Max 3D RA Vol i (P=0.020), Min 3D RA Vol i (P=0.0008), Max 3D LA Vol i (P=0.001) and Min 3D LA Vol i (P=0.0021); significant increases in 3D RAEF (P=0.037) and 3D RAEI (P=0.034); no significant differences in 3D LAEF and 3D LAEI; and significant increases in global RA and LA reservoir strain (both P<0.0001). There was no significant difference with regard to these variables in the AF-AF and SR-SR groups., Conclusion: 3D volume and strain analyses were useful in the evaluation of RA and LA reverse remodelling in successfully cardioverted patients with AF., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Recent developments in cancer therapeutics have improved outcomes but have also been associated with cardiovascular complications. Therapies harnessing the immune system have been associated with an immune-mediated myocardial injury described as myocarditis. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are one such therapy with an increasing number of case and cohort reports describing a clinical syndrome of immune checkpoint inhibitor–associated myocarditis. Although the full spectrum of immune checkpoint inhibitor–associated cardiovascular disease still needs to be fully defined, described cases of myocarditis range from syndromes with mild signs and symptoms to fatal events. These observations in the clinical setting stand in contrast to outcomes from randomized clinical trials in which myocarditis is a rare event that is investigator reported and lacking in a specific case definition. The complexities associated with diagnosis, as well as the heterogeneous clinical presentation of immune checkpoint inhibitor–associated myocarditis, have made ascertainment and identification of myocarditis with high specificity challenging in clinical trials and other data sets, limiting the ability to better understand the incidence, outcomes, and predictors of these rare events. Therefore, establishing a uniform definition of myocarditis for application in clinical trials of cancer immunotherapies will enable greater understanding of these events. We propose an operational definition of cancer therapy-associated myocarditis that may facilitate case ascertainment and report and therefore may enhance the understanding of the incidence, outcomes, and risk factors of this novel clinical syndrome., Competing Interests: Dr Bonaca reports consulting for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Janssen, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Merck as well as research funding from AstraZeneca, MedImmune, Merck, and Pfizer. Dr Salem was supported by Cancer ITMO of the French National Alliance for Life and Health Sciences (AVIESAN): “Plan Cancer 2014 to 2019”. Dr Wiviott reports ARENA, AstraZeneca, Aegerion, Allergan, Angelmed, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Boston Clinical Research Institute, Bristol Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Icon Clinical, Janssen, Lexicon, Merck, Servier, St Jude Medical, Xoma, and research grants from Amgen, Arena, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Merck and Sanofi-Aventis. Dr Wiviott’s spouse is an employee of Merck Research Laboratories. Dr Ederhy has received consultant and lecture fees from Eli Lilly, Daiichy-Sankyo, Celgene, Pfizer, EspeRare, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Janssen, Philips Healthcare, Bayer, Novartis, Amgen, and Ipsen. Dr Cohen has received consultant and lecture fees from, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer Pharma, BMS-Pfizer alliance, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Novartis, and has received research grants from ARS, RESICARD, Bayer, and Boehringer-Ingelheim. Dr Di Carli has received consulting honoraria from Sanofi and General Electric and research grants from SpectrumDynamics. Dr Choueiri has been a consultant for AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Cerulean, Eisai, Foundation Medicine Inc, Exelixis, Genentech, Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Peloton, Pfizer, Prometheus Labs, Corvus, Ipsen and has received research funding from AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Cerulean, Eisai, Foundation Medicine Inc., Exelixis, Genentech, Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Peloton, Pfizer, Prometheus Labs, Corvus, and Ipsen. Dr Kumbhani has received an honoraria from American College of Cardiology. Dr Heinzrling has been a principal investigator in clinical studies for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Roche, Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Curevac, and Novartis; had received consultancy and speaker fees from from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Roche, Amgen, Novartis, Curevac, and Pierre Fabre. Dr Lyon has received speaker, advisory board or consultancy fees and/or research grants from Pfizer, Novartis, Servier, Amgen, Clinigen Group, Takeda, Roche, Eli Lily, Eisai, Bristol Myers Squibb, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr Johnson has served on an advisory board for Array, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genoptix, Incyte, Merck, and Novartis, and has received research funding from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Incyte. Dr Moslehi has served on an advisory board for Pfizer, Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Takeda, Regeneron, and Myokardia and received research funding from Pfizer and Novartis. The other authors report no conflicts., (© 2019 American Heart Association, Inc.)

Background: Influenza vaccination (FV) is recommended for patients with cancer. Recent data suggested that the administration of the FV was associated with an increase in immune-related adverse events (irAEs) among patients on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Myocarditis is an uncommon but serious complication of ICIs and may also result from infection with influenza. There are no data testing the relationship between FV and the development of myocarditis on ICIs., Methods: Patients on ICIs who developed myocarditis (n = 101) (cases) were compared to ICI-treated patients (n = 201) without myocarditis (controls). A patient was defined as having the FV if they were administered the FV from 6 months prior to start of ICI to anytime during ICI therapy. Alternate thresholds for FV status were also tested. The primary comparison of interest was the rate of FV between cases and controls. Patients with myocarditis were followed for major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as the composite of cardiogenic shock, cardiac arrest, hemodynamically significant complete heart block and cardiovascular death., Results: The FV was administered to 25% of the myocarditis cases compared to 40% of the non-myocarditis ICI-treated controls (p = 0.01). Similar findings of lower rates of FV administration were noted among myocarditis cases when alternate thresholds were tested. Among the myocarditis cases, those who were vaccinated had 3-fold lower troponin levels when compared to unvaccinated cases (FV vs. No FV: 0.12 [0.02, 0.47] vs. 0.40 [0.11, 1.26] ng/ml, p = 0.02). Within myocarditis cases, those administered the FV also had a lower rate of other irAEs when compared to unvaccinated cases (36 vs. 55% p = 0.10) including lower rates of pneumonitis (12 vs. 36%, p = 0.03). During follow-up (175 [IQR 89, 363] days), 47% of myocarditis cases experienced a MACE. Myocarditis cases who received the FV were at a lower risk of cumulative MACE when compared to unvaccinated cases (24 vs. 59%, p = 0.002)., Conclusion: The rate of FV among ICI-related myocarditis cases was lower than controls on ICIs who did not develop myocarditis. In those who developed myocarditis related to an ICI, there was less myocardial injury and a lower risk of MACE among those who were administered the FV.

Background: Global longitudinal strain (GLS) has several sources of variation. Strain multilayer tracking is a new tool that has not yet been validated in clinical practice., Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate intervendor variability when measuring multilayer strain in patients receiving chemotherapy for cancer., Methods: Patients receiving chemotherapy for cancer, who were referred for echocardiography, were included prospectively. First, the same operator performed two-dimensional echocardiography on each patient using the Vivid E9™ (General Electric, Fairfield, CT, USA) and the ACUSON SC2000™ (Siemens, Munich, Germany) ultrasound systems. Second, we assessed myocardial deformation by using their respective speckle-tracking software. Third, we compared absolute values of GLS for the two vendors in each apical view (four-, three- and two-chamber) and for each layer (endocardial, mid-myocardial and epicardial)., Results: Eighty patients with cancer were included prospectively between February and June 2015. For a given vendor, GLS values decreased from the endocardial layer to the epicardial layer. For a given view, GLS values obtained with the ACUSON SC2000 platform were systematically lower than those obtained with the Vivid E9 platform (P<0.0001). We observed a significant difference between the two platforms, irrespective of the layer, interlayer gradient or chamber view considered (P<0.0001)., Conclusions: There was poor agreement for layer-specific strain evaluation between the Vivid E9 and ACUSON SC2000 platforms, using their dedicated software for strain multilayer assessment. These results suggest that, in clinical practice, the same system and software from the same vendor should be used for longitudinal follow-up., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To identify factors associated with troponin elevation and to measure the effect of elevated troponin on survival in cancer patients participating in phase I trials., Methods: Clinical characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors, and biological data from consecutive patients treated in phase I trials (January 2010-November 2012) were reviewed. Troponin value was measured for each patient before study-drug administration and then weekly. Cardiac troponin I was considered elevated if >0.06ng/mL. Incidence and relative risk of elevated troponin adjusted for potential confounding factors were estimated using multivariable Poisson regression models. A conditional Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare overall survival in patients with elevated troponin matched to patients without troponin elevation recruited in the same trial., Results: Of 463 patients, 42 (9%) experienced ≥1 episode of troponin I elevation after a median of 5weeks (interquartile range: 3-13) from drug initiation. Crude incidence of troponin elevation was 36/1000 person-months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 25-47). Troponin elevation was more frequent in patients exposed to antiangiogenic compounds versus other treatments (relative risk: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.1-3.3). Median overall survival from drug initiation was 9months (95% CI: 8-10), and 8months (95% CI: 2-13) in patients with troponin elevation. In the case-control analysis, risk of death was higher in patients with troponin elevation (hazard ratio: 2.9, 95% CI: 1.2-6.8)., Conclusion: Patients exposed to antiangiogenic compounds had a higher risk of troponin elevation, which was associated with a higher risk of death., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)