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

ObjectiveThe objective of the present study was to evaluate the utility of tissue Doppler imaging for predicting the development of postoperative atrial fibrillation.MethodsIn 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.ResultsPostoperative 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 < .0001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for early transmitral velocity/tissue Doppler mitral annular early diastolic velocity to predict postoperative atrial fibrillation after pulmonary resection for lung cancer was 0.83 (95% confidence interval, 0.74–0.92; P < .001). An early transmitral velocity/tissue Doppler mitral annular early diastolic velocity value of greater than 8 had a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 73% for predicting postoperative atrial fibrillation.ConclusionsPostoperative atrial fibrillation after pulmonary resection might be associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction before surgical intervention revealed by using tissue Doppler imaging. Additional studies to establish the significance of tissue Doppler imaging as a tool to predict postoperative atrial fibrillation could contribute to improvements in lung cancer treatments.