The objectives of this study were to prospectively screen a cohort of asymptomatic long-term survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) treated with chest irradiation for occult cardiovascular disease (CVD), and correlate screen-detected disease with prospectively measured cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs). A total of 182 HL survivors treated with chest irradiation (median follow-up time 14.8 years) were enrolled and underwent prospective CRF measurement and resting and stress echocardiography to assess coronary artery disease (CAD)/valve disease and left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD). Forty-seven (26%) patients had occult CAD/valve disease and/or LVSD. LVSD was not correlated with CRFs. Controlling for treatment factors, hypertension (odds ratio [OR] = 3.0) and elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (OR = 2.7) increased the likelihood of occult CAD/valve disease. Risk of CAD/valve disease rose exponentially with increasing blood pressure (BP) values, even in the normal range. Our findings suggest that BP screening may be useful in determining those survivors at greatest risk for occult CVD.
Keywords: Blood pressure; Hodgkin lymphoma; cardiovascular risk factors; hs-CRP; radiation.