Early Outcomes of Surgery for Carcinoid Heart Disease

The prognosis of patients with metastatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN) continues to improve with modern oncological therapy. In the subgroup of patients with carcinoid syndrome, the development of carcinoid heart disease (CaHD) severely impacts long term survival. Valve surgery has been demonstrated to improve survival and symptoms in patients with CaHD. We sought to assess the outcomes of surgery for CaHD from a single Neuroendocrine Service.

We retrospectively reviewed outcomes of patients with CaHD and metastatic NEN who underwent valvular surgery over a 4-year period (2012-2016).

Twenty (20) patients (mean age 64 years, range 29-77 years), all with metastatic small intestinal NEN treated with somatostatin analogues, underwent surgery. Tumour grade was: G1 (n=8), G2 (n=9), and unknown (n=3). Preoperative New York Heart Association (NYHA) class was III/IV in 15 patients (75%). The valves affected were: tricuspid (n=20; 19 replace, 1 repair), pulmonary (n=14; 14 replace), mitral (n=2; two replace) and aortic valve (n=2; two replace). Concomitant procedures included patent foramen ovale closure (n=9), right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) (n=4) augmentation and coronary artery bypass grafting (n=3). There were two operative deaths (10%) due to right heart and liver failure. At 6 weeks, all surviving patients had symptom improvement (NYHA I/II). Median follow-up was 2±1.5 years (<1 month to 5 years). One asymptomatic patient developed RVOT obstruction after pulmonary replacement. Two patients had valvular recurrence. One and 2-year survival were 74% and 48% respectively. Of 13 late deaths, 12 were cancer-related (two with uncorrected progressive pulmonary regurgitation).

Surgery for CaHD can be performed with satisfactory early results, leading to an improvement of cardiac symptoms, survival and enabling subsequent oncologic treatment. Further studies are required to improve longer term outcomes in these complex patients with CaHD.