Epidemiologic studies of the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease have used clinical screening with echocardiographic confirmation of suspected cases. We hypothesized that echocardiographic screening of all surveyed children would show a significantly higher prevalence of rheumatic heart disease.

Intra-individual heterogeneity of cardiac exposure is an issue in breast cancer (BC) radiotherapy that was poorly considered in previous cardiotoxicity studies mainly based on mean heart dose (MHD). This dosimetric study analyzes the distribution of individually-determined radiation doses to the heart and its substructures including coronary arteries and evaluate whether MHD is a relevant surrogate parameter of dose for these substructures. Data were collected from the BACCARAT prospective study that included left or right unilateral BC patients treated with 3D-Conformal Radiotherapy (RT) between 2015 and 2017 and followed-up for 2 years with repeated cardiac imaging examinations. A coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) was performed before RT for all patients. Registration of the planning CT and CCTA images allowed delineation of the coronary arteries on the planning CT images. Using the 3D dose matrix generated during treatment planning and the added coronary contours, dose distributions were generated for whole heart and the following substructures: left ventricle (LV), left main coronary artery (LMCA), left anterior descending artery (LAD), left circumflex artery (LCX) and right coronary artery (RCA). A descriptive analysis of the physical doses in Gray (Gy) was performed, Dmean was the volume-weighted mean dose. Dose distributions were generated for 89 left-sided BC patients (MHD = 2.9 ± 1.5 Gy, Dmean_LAD = 15.7 ± 3.1 Gy) and 15 right-sided BC patients (MHD = 0.5 ± 0.1 Gy; Dmean_RCA = 1.2 ± 0.4 Gy). For left-sided BC patients, the ratio Dmean_LAD/MHD was around 5. Pearson correlation coefficients between MHD and Dmean for delineated substructures were all statistically significant. However, for all substructures, the coefficient of determination R2 indicated that the proportion of the variance in Dmean of the substructure predictable from MHD was moderate to low (in particular R2 = 0.45 for LAD). Among left-sided BC patients with MHD < 3Gy, 56% of patients could nevertheless receive LAD doses above 40Gy (V40 > 0). Our study illustrates that MHD is not enough to predict with confidence individual patient dose to the LV and coronary arteries, in particular the LAD. For precise radiotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity studies it would be necessary to consider the distribution of doses within these cardiac substructures rather than just the MHD. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02605512 , Registered 6 November 2015 - Retrospectively registered.

The choice of resynchronization therapy between with (CRT-D) and without (CRT-P) a defibrillator remains a contentious issue. Cause-of-death analysis among CRT-P, compared with CRT-D, patients could help evaluate the extent to which CRT-P patients would have additionally benefited from a defibrillator in a daily clinical practice. A total of 1705 consecutive patients implanted with a CRT (CRT-P: 535 and CRT-D: 1170) between 2008 and 2010 were enrolled in CeRtiTuDe, a multicentric prospective follow-up cohort study, with specific adjudication for causes of death at 2 years. Patients with CRT-P compared with CRT-D were older (P < 0.0001), less often male (P < 0.0001), more symptomatic (P = 0.0005), with less coronary artery disease (P = 0.003), wider QRS (P = 0.002), more atrial fibrillation (P < 0.0001), and more co-morbidities (P = 0.04). At 2-year follow-up, the annual overall mortality rate was 83.80 [95% confidence interval (CI) 73.41–94.19] per 1000 person-years. The crude mortality rate among CRT-P patients was double compared with CRT-D (relative risk 2.01, 95% CI 1.56–2.58). In a Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, CRT-P remained associated with increased mortality (hazard ratio 1.54, 95% CI 1.07–2.21, P = 0.0209), although other potential confounders may persist. By cause-of-death analysis, 95% of the excess mortality among CRT-P subjects was related to an increase in non-sudden death. When compared with CRT-D patients, excess mortality in CRT-P recipients was mainly due to non-sudden death. Our findings suggest that CRT-P patients, as currently selected in routine clinical practice, would not potentially benefit with the addition of a defibrillator.

The increasing use of CT scans in the paediatric population raises the question of a possible health impact of ionising radiation exposure associated with CT scans. The aim of this study was to describe the pattern of CT use in early childhood. In 14 major French paediatric radiology departments, children undergoing at least 1 CT scan before age 5, between 2000 and 2006, were included. For each examination, absorbed organ doses were calculated. 43% of the 27 362 children in the cohort were aged less than 1 year during their first exposure, with 9% being aged less than 1 month. The mean number of examinations per child was 1.6 (range 1-43). The examinations included: head in 63% of the cases, chest in 21%, abdomen and pelvis in 8% and others in 8%. Brain and eye lenses received the highest cumulative doses from head examinations, with mean organ dose values of 22 mGy (maximum 1107 mGy) and 26 mGy (maximum 1392 mGy), respectively. The mean cumulative effective dose was 3.2 mSv (range 0.1-189 mSv). CT scan exposure in childhood is responsible for relatively high doses to radiosensitive organs. The rather large dose range according to the protocols used requires their optimisation. The cohort follow-up will study the risk of long-term radiation-induced cancer.

Radiotherapy (RT) for breast cancer presents a benefit in terms of reducing local recurrence and deaths resulting from breast cancer but it can lead to secondary effects due to the presence of neighboring cardiac normal tissues within the irradiation field. Breast RT has been shown to be associated with long-term increased risk of heart failure, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction and finally cardiovascular death more than 10 years after RT. However, there is still a lack of knowledge for early cardiotoxicity induced by breast RT that can appear long before the onset of clinically significant cardiac events. Based on a 2-year follow-up prospective cohort of patients treated with breast RT, the BACCARAT (BreAst Cancer and CArdiotoxicity Induced by RAdioTherapy) study aims to enhance knowledge on detection and prediction of early subclinical cardiac dysfunction and lesions induced by breast RT and on biological mechanisms potentially involved, based on functional and anatomical cardiac imaging combined with simultaneous assessment of multiple circulating biomarkers and accurate heart dosimetry. BACCARAT study consists in a monocentric prospective cohort study that will finally include 120 women treated with adjuvant 3D CRT for breast cancer, and followed for 2 years after RT. Women aged 50 to 70 years, treated for breast cancer and for whom adjuvant 3D CRT is indicated, without chemotherapy are eligible for the study. Baseline (before RT) and follow-up data include measurements of functional myocardial dysfunction including strain and strain rate based on 2D-speckle tracking echocardiography, anatomical coronary lesions including description of plaques in segments of coronary arteries based on Coronary computed tomography angiography, and a wide panel of circulating biomarkers. The absorbed dose is evaluated for the whole heart and its substructures, in particular the coronary arteries. Analysis on occurrence and evolution of subclinical cardiac lesions and biomarkers will be performed and completed with dose-response relationship. Multivariate model of normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) will also be proposed. Tools and results developed in the BACCARAT study should allow improving prediction and prevention of potential lesions to cardiac normal tissues surrounding tumors and ultimately enhance patients’ care and quality of life. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02605512