Cardiac function in survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Aim: The study objective was to assess plasma N-terminal-pro-brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels and to evaluate left ventricular mass as well as left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions in 44 children who had undergone treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma, with regard to gender, age at disease onset, time that had passed since therapy completion, cumulative dose of antracyclines and mediastinal radiotherapy applied.

Methods: The median levels of pro-BNP were found to be higher in the whole study group as compared with the control (55.9 ± 53.