Non-Invasive Hemodynamic Whole-Body Bioimpedance Indices for the Early Detection of Cancer Treatment-Related Cardiotoxicity: A Retrospective Observational Study

Introduction: Patients undergoing chemotherapy are extremely vulnerable to cardiotoxicity. Early detection of cardiac dysfunction is of vital importance to optimize the management of these patients. Objective: The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of non-invasive hemodynamic whole-body bioimpedance (WBI) technology as a modality to detect heart failure in patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Methods: This retrospective observational trial included 84 patients treated at the cardio-oncology outpatient clinic of the Rabin Medical Center. Clinical assessments were performed including biomarker testing and measurement of hemodynamic and volume status parameters as measured by WBI. Results: We included 84 patients with a median age of 64.8 years, and 40.5% were males. Clinical heart failure was detected in 43% of the whole group. Patients were divided into two groups according to baseline NT-proBNP levels with a cut-off of 900 pg/mL. Left ventricular ejection fraction did not differ between the groups. Those with NT-proBNP >900 pg/mL had lower levels of stroke index, cardiac index, and Granov-Goor index (GGI; 25.9 vs. 34.0, 2.0 vs. 2.3, 8.3 vs. 11.4, respectively, with p < 0.001 for all comparisons). The optimal cut-off value for the GGI to detect NT-proBNP >900 pg/mL was 8.3. The area under the curve of a GGI cut-off <8.3 to detect NT-proBNP >900 pg/mL was 0.81 (positive predictive value 95% and negative predictive value 72%), with a 51% sensitivity and 98% specificity. Conclusion: GGI, a parameter measured by WBI, can reliably correlate to biomarker evidence of heart failure in patients after chemotherapy. Its use as a screening tool for cardiotoxicity in patients with ongoing anticancer therapy is promising.