Abstract
Background: Postoperative chemotherapy (pCT), together with chemoradiotherapy (pCRT), is well used for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma in the esophagus. However, these adjuvant therapies may cause serious adverse effects resulting in higher postoperative morbidity.
 Methods: In this study, we aim to assess and compare the postoperative cardiopulmonary complications as a result of pCT and pCRT in patients with esophageal cancer. PCT (n = 182) or pCRT (n = 153) was conducted to treat patients with esophageal cancer.
 Results: A significantly higher percentage of pneumonia was diagnosed in patients with the pCRT treatment compared with pCT group (P < 0.01). In comparison to the pCT treated group, pCRT treatment patients showed significantly decreased early diastolic filling velocity (P < 0.01) and higher plasma level of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) (P < 0.01). Moreover, pCRT treatment was associated with higher pneumonia risk and increased NT-proBNP level significantly by a multivariate analysis.
 Conclusion: pCRT treatment increased the percentage of cardiopulmonary complications in comparison with pCT treatment.
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