Background: To evaluate the incidence and effective factors of cardiac dysfunction in patients with advanced lung cancer.
Methods: Echocardiography were carried out in 60 patients with advanced lung cancer before treatment. According to heart function, patients were divided into treatment group and control group.
Results: The incidence of cardiac dysfunction in patients with advanced lung cancer was 60%. All patients with malignant pleural effusion and pericardial effusion had cardiac dysfunction. Cardiac dysfunction occurred much earlier when patients had previous history of coronary artery diseases, hypertension or diabetes. Treatment against cardiac dysfunction may improve symptoms and prolong survival time. The cardiac dysfunction in the patients with advanced lung cancer is not concerned in chemotherapy.
Conclusions: The incidence of cardiac dysfunction is closely related to patients' general condition, especially massive malignant pleural effusion and pericardial effusion. Treatment against cardiac dysfunction can significantly improve the clinical symptoms, life quality and survival time.