Comparison of the incidence of perioperative cardiovascular risk events among patients with and without a history of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND

Chemotherapy predisposes individuals to increased risk for future cardiac events.

METHODS

In order to verify the hypothesis that neoadjuvant chemotherapy may be a risk factor for perioperative cardiovascular events, 122 patients who underwent radical mastectomy with general anesthesia were separated into two groups, the N group (neoadjuvant chemotherapy group) and the C group (control group), according to neoadjuvant chemotherapy history. Cardiovascular events were recorded in 24 hours after surgery.

RESULTS

There were no differences in demographic characteristics such as age, body mass index and electrocardiogram between the two groups. The N group had higher atherosclerosis index, lower preoperative echocardiographic ejection fraction and hemoglobin values than the C group. The N group had significantly higher incidence of cardiovascular risk events (16.1%) than the C group (5%) (P<0.05). After binary logistic regression, neoadjuvant chemotherapy was identified as a risk factor of cardiovascular risk events.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to radical mastectomy were more prone to cardiovascular risk events than those without chemotherapy history.