Clinical characteristics of patients referred to cardio-oncology clinic

Abstract

To explore characteristics of outpatients in a single cardio-oncology clinic, patients visiting cardio-oncology clinic of Fuwai Hospital CAMS&PUMC (Beijing, China) from January 2020 to December 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. In total, 330 patients were included, the median age (Q1, Q3) was 58(46, 66) years, and there were 192 females (58.2%). The purposes for visit included an evaluation and treatment of cardiovascular adverse reactions (n=247, 74.8%), pre-antitumor therapy assessment (n=51, 15.5%), and management of primary or metastatic cardiac tumors (n=32, 9.7%). For patients with cardiovascular adverse reactions, the most common tumor type was breast cancer (n=88, 29.5%), followed by gastrointestinal cancer (n=70, 23.5%), and hematological cancers (n=62, 20.8%). Among them, 236 cases (95.5%) had received antitumor drugs in the past; 38 cases (15.4%) had a history of chest radiotherapy; some cases were complicated with hypertension (n=69, 23.2%) and/or hyperlipidemia (n=69, 23.2%); 42 cases (14.1%) had a history of coronary heart disease; and 16 cases (5.4%) were complicated with atrial fibrillation or flutter. Among 32 patients with cardiac tumors, 11 cases (34.4%) had primary malignant tumors; 6 cases (18.8%) had benign tumors; 2 cases (6.3%) had metastatic tumors; and 13 (40.6%) had unknown pathological types. This study explores the epidemiology of cardio-oncology in China and provides clinical insights for the future development of cardio-oncology. In the future, it is still necessary to study the benefits of cardio-oncology clinics and develop standardized indicators to evaluate their benefits.