Angela Yuen is a Clinical Infusion Pharmacist at University of California San Diego Health Moores Cancer Center, and Bailey Crandall is an Oncology Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. Correspondence: Bailey Crandall (bailey.crandall@va.gov)
In this study, CV events occurred in 24% of patients with a history of CVD; 11% of these events were nonhypertensive. Baseline cardiac monitoring was not performed for most patients started on TKI therapy, but tests were performed once patients became symptomatic. The study results suggest that high-risk patients should undergo routine cardiac monitoring during the first 4 months of TKI therapy, in keeping with medication package insert monitoring recommendations. Cardiac monitoring of high-risk patients will allow for earlier identification of cardiac decline and offer opportunities for interventions, such as pharmacist-driven protocols to start CV medications. Implementation of this study’s recommendations should be evaluated to determine whether outcomes improve with routine cardiac monitoring in these high-risk patients.
Author disclosures The authors report no actual or potential conflicts of interest with regard to this article.
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