The impact of cardiovascular comorbidities on the outcome of surgery for non-small-cell lung cancer

OBJECTIVE: The presence of cardiovascular comorbidity in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients increases with age. Therefore, the influence of cardiovascular comorbidity in NSCLC patients on their short- or long-term prognosis remains controversial. This study evaluated the possible risk factors related to the short-term and long-term survivals in NSCLC patients with cardiovascular comorbidity. METHODS: One thousand one hundred and sixty-two consecutive patients with NSCLC who had undergone a surgical resection between 1984 and 2010 were enrolled in this study. A total of 360 (31%) patients with cardiovascular comorbidities were analysed to identify the risk factors for postoperative complications and prognostic factors. RESULTS: The patients with cardiovascular comorbidity included 301 with hypertension, 28 with coronary artery disease, 35 with peripheral vascular disease, 23 with arrhythmia and 11 with abdominal aortic aneurysm. Eighty-three patients exhibited more than one type of comorbidity. The postoperative cardiovascular morbidity rates were 3.6% in the cardiovascular comorbidity patients and 3.3% among patients without cardiovascular comorbidity (P = 0.73). No correlation was observed between preoperative cardiovascular comorbidity and postoperative pulmonary complications (P = 0.52). The operative mortality rates were 1.0% for the cardiovascular comorbidity patients and 0.8% for the other patients (P = 0.51). No difference in the postoperative outcomes was observed between the patients with and without cardiovascular comorbidity. The 5-year survival rates were 62.5% in comparison with 65.4% among patients without cardiovascular comorbidity (P = 0.48). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with cardiovascular comorbidity were not found to be at increased risk of mortality and morbidity following surgery for NSCLC. In addition, cardiovascular comorbidity did not influence the long-term outcomes of patients after a pulmonary resection for NSCLC.