Cardiopulmonary exercise testing as a predictor of complications in oesophagogastric cancer surgery

Introduction An anaerobic threshold (AT) of Methods Between March 2008 and October 2010, 108 patients (83 men, 25 women) with a median age of 66 years (range: 38–84 years) underwent CPET before potentially curative resections for oesophagogastric cancers. Measured CPET variables included AT and maximum oxygen uptake at peak exercise (VO2peak). Outcome measures were length of high dependency unit stay, length of hospital stay, unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and postoperative morbidity and mortality. Results The mean AT and VO2 peak were 10.8ml/min/kg (standard deviation [SD]: 2.8ml/min/kg, range: 4.6–19.3ml/min/kg) and 15.2ml/min/kg (SD: 5.3ml/min/kg, range: 5.4–33.3ml/min/kg) respectively; 57 patients (55%) had an AT of Conclusions This study has shown a correlation between AT and the development of cardiopulmonary complications although the discriminatory ability was low.