Elevated preoperative heart rate associated with increased risk of cardiopulmonary complications after resection for lung cancer

Background: The study aimed to assess whether preoperative resting heart rate could be a risk factor for cardiopulmonary complications (CPCs) after lung cancer resection. Methods: Eligible consecutive patients who underwent resection surgery for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at Ningbo NO.2 Hospital between May, 2010 and July, 2015 were included. The demographic, clinical characteristics and laboratory parameters were compared in patients with or without CPCs within postoperative 30 days. The multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between CPCs and risk factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was utilized for the predictive role of preoperative resting heart rate for CPCs. Results: One hundred eighty participants were enrolled into the final analysis and 42 of them had an established diagnosis of CPCs within postoperative 30 days. Elevated preoperative resting heart rate was an independent risk factor for postoperative CPCs (OR: 4.48, 95% CI: 1.17-18.42, P = 0.021) by the multivariate logistic regression analysis. ROC curve analysis indicated elevated resting heart rate as a predictor for CPCs with a cut-off value of 86 beats/min (AUC: 0.813, specificity: 80.95%, sensitivity: 72.46%, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Elevated preoperative resting heart rate was associated with an increased risk of postoperative CPCs in patients after resection for lung cancer.