Left Atrial Function in Children with Cancer Prior to Start of Chemotherapy: A Speckle Echocardiography Analysis.

Authors

Nikita Garg, Gilda Kadiu, Jyothsna Akam-Venkata, Gautam Singh, Sanjeev Aggarwal

Published in

Pediatric cardiology. Jun 30, 2026. Epub Jun 30, 2026.

Abstract

Left ventricle (LV) systolic dysfunction, which has been observed in pediatric patients with cancer even prior to chemotherapy, is associated with adverse cardiac events on short-term follow-up. Left atrium (LA) function is pivotal in LV filling and output. Our aim was to evaluate LA function and dimensions before starting chemotherapy in children with cancer, compared to controls. This retrospective cross-sectional study assessed echocardiographic LA function in asymptomatic children with cancer before starting chemotherapy and normal controls. LA function was assessed during the reservoir phase (LASr) denoting LA filling, the passive emptying conduit phase (LAScd) and the active atrial contraction booster phase (LASbo) of the LA strain curve. LV diastolic functional parameters, mitral valve early filling maximum velocity (E), atrial filling maximum velocity (A) and tissue Doppler imaging (E' and A') were concurrently measured. The pre-chemotherapy (n = 79) and control (n = 80) groups had comparable gender and age at echocardiogram and similar LASr (39.0% ± 9.2% vs. 39.0% ± 9.1%, p = 0.99). However, LAScd was significantly lower (23.1% ± 11.3% vs. 28.6% ± 8.6%, p < 0.05) and was compensated by increased LASbo function (15.9% ± 11.2% vs. 10.4% ± 7.5%, p < 0.05) in the pre-chemotherapy group, compared to controls. Our data demonstrating abnormalities in LA functional strain parameters in children with cancer, prior to chemotherapy, are novel and perplexing. These LA strain abnormalities may be associated with cancer related systemic effects or inflammatory cytokine release, though the exact mechanisms require further investigation.

PMID:
42377446
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 30 Jun 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.