Imatinib Mesylate Causes Potential Cardiac Dysfunction in Patients With Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: the Results of a Case–control Study

Unlike second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors, effects of imatinib on the cardiovascular (CV) system are debatable. The current case–control study aimed to evaluate the CV effects of imatinib in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) using non-invasive 2D-echocardiography testing. Patients with CML ≥ 13 years attending the adult haematology clinic of a tertiary care hospital in north India were prospectively enrolled over 1.5 years. The study population (n = 110) consisted of 35 newly diagnosed patients (treatment-naïve group) and 75 patients under imatinib therapy ≥ 1 year (treated group). All the eligible patients were subjected to 2D-echocardiography to calculate pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and deceleration time (DT). These parameters were compared between the two groups. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The median age of study population was 40 years (range, 13–73) and M:F ratio was 1.14:1. Both the groups had similar demographics at the diagnosis including CV risk factors. The median PASP of the treated group was 2 mm Hg higher than the treatment-naïve group (25 vs 23 mm Hg, p-value = 0.919). The median LVEF of the treated group was 3.2% lower than the treatment-naïve group (58.5% vs 61.72%, p-value = 0.577). The median DT of the treated group was 7 ms shorter than treatment-naïve group (211 vs 204 ms, p-value = 0.411). Imatinib causes potential cardiac dysfunction in patients with CML. Large scale prospective follow-up trials in the same cohort of patients are needed to validate the findings of our study.