Pediatric hematology and oncology
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Pediatr Hematol Oncol · Sep 2021
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialHeart rate response and chronotropic incompetence during cardiopulmonary exercise testing in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors.
Cardiopulmonary exercise tests (CPET) focusing on analyses of heart rate (HR) responses and chronotropic incompetence (CI) could provide early information about treatment's negative cardiac effects. We examined childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors' HR response during maximal CPET and identified survivors with CI. A total of 250 childhood ALL survivors underwent a CPET on ergocycle to assess their HR response. ⋯ Survivors with CI had a significantly lower cardiorespiratory fitness than those without CI. This study shows that survivors are at risk of developing altered HR responses and CI many years after the end of their cancer treatments. These findings highlight the importance of early detection of cardiac damage due to cancer treatments.