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Assessment of Pulmonary Capillary Blood Volume, Membrane Diffusing Capacity, and Intrapulmonary Arteriovenous Anastomoses During Exercise
Published on: February 20, 2017
Ventilatory efficiency in combination with peak oxygen uptake improves risk stratification in patients undergoing
Karolina Kristenson1, Johan Hylander1, Miklos Boros2
1Departments of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care in Linköping and Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Objective:
We aimed to evaluate whether or not using the slope of the increase in minute ventilation in relation to carbon dioxide (VE/VCo2-slope), with a cutoff value of 35, could improve risk stratification for major pulmonary complications or death following lobectomy in lung cancer patients at moderate risk (Vo2peak = 10-20 mL/kg/min).
Methods:
Single center, retrospective analysis of 146 patients with lung cancer who underwent lobectomy and preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing in 2008-2020. The main outcome was any major pulmonary complication or death within 30 days of surgery. Patients were categorized based on their preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing as: low-risk group, peak oxygen uptake >20 mL/kg/min; low-moderate risk, peak oxygen uptake 10 to 20 mL/kg/min and VE/VCo2-slope <35; and moderate-high risk, peak oxygen uptake 10 to 20 mL/kg/min and VE/VCo2-slope ≥35. The frequency of complications between groups was compared using χ2 test. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio with 95% CI for the main outcome based on the cardiopulmonary exercise testing group.
Results:
Overall, 25 patients (17%) experienced a major pulmonary complication or died (2 deaths). The frequency of complications differed between the cardiopulmonary exercise testing groups: 29%, 13%, and 8% in the moderate-high, low-moderate, and low-risk group, respectively (P = .023). Using the low-risk group as reference, the adjusted odds ratio for the low-moderate risk group was 3.44 (95% CI, 0.66-17.90), whereas the odds ratio for the moderate-high risk group was 8.87 (95% CI, 1.86-42.39).
Conclusions:
Using the VE/VCo2-slope with a cutoff value of 35 improved risk stratification for major pulmonary complications following lobectomy in lung cancer patients with moderate risk based on a peak oxygen uptake of 10 to 20 mL/kg/min. This suggests that the VE/VCo2-slope can be used for preoperative risk evaluation in lung cancer lobectomy.
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