Predictive value of preoperative tissue Doppler echocardiographic analysis for postoperative atrial fibrillation after pulmonary resection for lung cancer

Objective The objective of the present study was to evaluate the utility of tissue Doppler imaging for predicting the development of postoperative atrial fibrillation. Methods In this prospective observational study, we evaluated 126 patients with lung cancer who underwent a lobectomy during the 18-month period from August 2007 to January 2009. Preoperative evaluations for all patients included tissue Doppler imaging in addition to conventional echocardiographic analysis. The study end point was the development of postoperative atrial fibrillation. Results Postoperative atrial fibrillation was identified in 29 (23%) patients, in whom significantly higher early transmitral velocity/tissue Doppler mitral annular early diastolic velocity values were noted compared with those seen in patients without atrial fibrillation (9.76 ± 2.3 vs 7.14 ± 1.7, P