Evaluation of acute cardiac effects of HİGH dose steroid treatment

Introduction: High dose steroid treatment is a method that is used effectively in different disease groups. Cardiac side effects developed in this treatment secondary, are reported in many case reports, but to our knowledge, there are no studies on the effects on cardiac function in adults. In this study, we investigated the effect of high dose steroid on cardiac function after treatment Method: This study was carried out on 30 patients who applied to Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Neurology and Ophthalmology of Atatürk University between September 2016 and December 2016 and decided to take high dose steroid treatment by related clinic. Before and after treatment, blood sample was collected from all patients, blood pressure was measured, and electrocardiography and echocardiography were performed. Patients over 65 years of age, patients with segmental wall motion abnormality and patients with atrial fibrillation were excluded from the study. "Paired T test" was used to compare continuous variables and "Wilcoxon test" when appropriate. The "X2" test was used to compare categorical variables. All p values are "bidirectional" and p <0.05 significance level. Results: Thirty patients scheduled to receive high dose steroids were included in the study. No significant change was observed in conventional echocardiography parameters, but strain echocardiography showed a significant increase in left ventricular global strain and left ventricular strain rate E wave. There was a significant decrease in heart rate in the post-treatment group (p <0.001). Significant shortening was observed in the measured QTc values (p <0.001). Significant increase was found in white blood cell and platelet counts of patients (p <0.001). Conclusion: In our study, echocardiographic examination; an increase in left ventricular global strain and strain rate E wave was observed, although no significant correlation was detected with conventional methods. Strain echocardiography method provides faster and more accurate data than other techniques. We think that high dose steroid treatment increases the systolic and diastolic functions of the heart in the acute phase, which is due to increased contractility in response to increased volumetric load.