Echocardiographic Measure of Right Ventricular-pulmonary Arterial Coupling Predicts Survival in Lung Cancer

RATIONALE: Echocardiographic indicators of pulmonary hypertension have been reported to predict decreased survival in lung cancer. OBJECTIVE: We tested the hypothesis that this may be associated with impaired right ventricular (RV)-systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (sPAP) coupling. METHODS: This prospective observational study included 220 outpatients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) examined by Doppler, strain, and 3-dimensional echocardiography before starting therapy. Of the included patients, 41% were female and the median age was 68 years [61, 74]. Prediction of one-year overall survival was assessed by univariable analysis followed by multivariate Cox regression, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and Kaplan-Meier analyses. RESULTS: Median sPAP was within the limits of normal (31 mmHg [26, 36]); 30% of the patients had sPAP

• Rako, Z. A.
• Cekay, M.
• Yogeswaran, A.
• Yildiz, S.
• Arndt, P. F.
• Kremer, N.
• Schaefer, S.
• Janetzko, P.
• Brito da Rocha, B.
• Mummert, C. M.
• Franken, J. K.
• Soethe, H.
• Werner, H. F.
• Dumitrascu, R.
• Grimminger, F.
• Ghofrani, H. A.
• Pullamsetti, S. S.
• Seeger, W.
• Naeije, R.
• Savai, R.
• Eul, B.
• Tello, K.