Impact of Hematologic Malignancies on Outcome of Cardiac Surgery

The authors created 612 matched pairs of patients with a history of hematologic malignancy and controls. They compared operative details, early postoperative complications, and late survival.

Patients with prior diagnosis of malignancy had lower hemoglobin levels and were at greater risk of receiving postoperative blood transfusions (47.4% vs. 35.6%, P<0.0001).
Reoperations for postoperative bleeding (4.7% vs. 3.3%, P=0.253) and stroke (1.3% vs. 1.3%, P>0.999) were similar. Thirty-day mortality in patients with hematologic malignancy was 3.3%, and 1.5% in matched controls (P=0.061).
Overall survival among patients with cancer was reduced (P<.0001).

The authors concluded that while late survival is reduced in patients with hematologic malignancies, early outcomes are generally similar to matched controls. As such, these patients should be offered surgery.