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Abstract Background Radiation-induced myocardial fibrosis increases heart failure (HF) risk and is associated with a restrictive cardiomyopathy phenotype. The myocardial extracellular volume fraction (ECVF) using contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) quantifies the extent of fibrosis which, in severe cases, results in a noncompliant left ventricle (LV) with an inability to augment exercise stroke volume (SV). The peak exercise oxygen pulse (O2Pulse), a noninvasive surrogate for exercise SV, may provide mechanistic insight into cardiac reserve. The relationship between LV ECVF and O2Pulse following thoracic radiotherapy has not been explored. Methods Patients who underwent thoracic radiotherapy for chest malignancies with significant incidental heart dose (≥5 Gray (Gy), ≥10% heart) without a pre-cancer treatment history of HF underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing to determine O2Pulse, contrast-enhanced CMR, and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) measurement. Multivariable-analyses were performed to identify factors associated with O2Pulse normalized for age/gender/anthropometrics. Results Thirty patients (median [IQR] age 63 [57–67] years, 18 [60%] female, 2.0 [0.6–3.8] years post-radiotherapy) were included. The peak VO2 was 1376 [1057–1552] mL·min− 1, peak HR = 150 [122–164] bpm, resulting in an O2Pulse of 9.2 [7.5–10.7] mL/beat or 82 (66–96) % of predicted. The ECVF, LV ejection fraction, heart volume receiving ≥10 Gy, and NTproBNP were independently associated with %O2Pulse (P

Abstract Background Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is an established and potentially curative therapeutic option for hematologic cancers. HCT survivors are at risk of developing long-term complications impacting on morbidity and mortality. Orthostatic hypotension (OH) and postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) have been anecdotally described after HCT. However, the incidence and clinical characteristics of patients with OH and POTS after HCT has not been well defined. Methods This retrospective study included 132 patients who had HCT between March 2011 and July 2018 and were referred to Cardio-oncology clinic. Patients were screened for OH and POTS. Using logistic regression analysis we evaluated the association between clinical factors and the incidence of OH and POTS. Results Median age was 58 (47–63) years, 87 (66%) patients were male, 95 (72%) were Caucasian. OH was diagnosed in 30 (23%) subjects and POTS in 12 (9%) after the HCT. No significant differences in demographic characteristics were found when comparing patients with and without OH or POTS. The two groups did not differ for cardiovascular diseases prevalence nor for the prior use of antihypertensive drugs. Previous radiotherapy and treatment with specific chemotherapy drugs were found to be associated with the incidence of OH or POTS, but none of the factors maintained the significance in the multivariate model. Pharmacological therapy was required in 38 (91%) cases, including a b-adrenergic blocker (n = 24, 57%), midodrine (n = 24, 57%) and fludrocortisone (n = 7, 18%). Conclusion Orthostatic intolerance syndromes are commonly diagnosed in patients referred to the cardiologist after HCT, involving approximately 1/3 of patients and requiring pharmacological therapy to cope with symptoms in the majority of cases. Risk factors specific to this population are identified but cannot fully explain the incidence of POTS and OH after HCT.