Incidence of and Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Complications After Thoracic Surgery for Noncancerous Lesions

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of and risk factors for cardiovascular complications after thoracic surgery for noncancerous lesions. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting A tertiary medical center. Participants All consecutive patients undergoing either thoracotomy or thoracoscopy for noncancerous lesions between 2005 and 2011 were included. Measurements and Main results The primary outcomes were the incidence and types of cardiovascular complications such as cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, heart failure, and myocardial ischemia during hospitalization. A total of 719 patients were recruited, 60% of whom had infections. The incidence of cardiovascular complications after thoracic surgery was 6.7% (48 of 719), of which cardiac arrhythmia was the most common (25 of 48, 52%). The multivariate risk regression analysis showed that age>55 years (risk ratio [RR] = 4.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.1-7.5; p