Comparison of the incidence of perioperative cardiovascular risk events among patients with and without a history of neoadjuvant chemotherapy

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy predisposes individuals to increased risk for future cardiac events. METHODS: In order to verify the hypothesis that neoadjuvant chemotherapy may be a risk factor for perioperative cardiovascular events, 122 patients who underwent radical mastectomy with general anesthesia were separated into two groups, the N group (neoadjuvant chemotherapy group) and the C group (control group), according to neoadjuvant chemotherapy history. Cardiovascular events were recorded in 24 hours after surgery. RESULTS: There were no differences in demographic characteristics such as age, body mass index and electrocardiogram between the two groups. The N group had higher atherosclerosis index, lower preoperative echocardiographic ejection fraction and hemoglobin values than the C group. The N group had significantly higher incidence of cardiovascular risk events (16.1%) than the C group (5%) (P<0.05). After binary logistic regression, neoadjuvant chemotherapy was identified as a risk factor of cardiovascular risk events. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to radical mastectomy were more prone to cardiovascular risk events than those without chemotherapy history.