Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of conventional echocardiography for cardiotoxicity caused by anthracycline chemotherapy drugs.

Methods A total of 136 postoperative patients with breast cancer who underwent anthracycline chemotherapy in our hospital from February 2014 to June 2017 were enrolled. Six cycles of pirarubicin+cyclophosphamide+docetaxel chemotherapy were given. At the end of the treatment, patients were divided into cardiotoxicity group (N=48) and no cardiotoxicity group (N=76). The echocardiographic parameters of the patients before and after chemotherapy were compared, and the value of the conventional echocardiographic parameters was analyzed in the early diagnosis of cardiotoxicity.

Results The values of TAPSE, E/A, and E/a in the cardiotoxic group were significantly lower than those in the no cardiotoxicity group (P < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the area under the corresponding ROC curve of TAPSE, E/A, and E/e' were 0.917 (0.874, 0.962), 0.902 (0.853, 0.957), and 0.845 (0.823, 0.921), respectively. The cutoff value of TAPSE, E/A, and E/e' were 20.78, 1.19, and 8.59 mm, and the Youden index is 0.842, 0.761, and 0.712, respectively.

Conclusions Conventional echocardiography has certain value in the diagnosis of cardiotoxicity caused by anthracyclines.