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Up to 25% of patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are considered high-risk for surgery, due to severe medical comorbidity and/or poor pulmonary reserve. Many of these patients are treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Prognosis in this subgroup of patients is difficult to determine. We investigated the association of impaired heart rate recovery (HRR) with survival in patients who received SBRT for treatment of early-stage lung cancer.We collected data from consecutive patients who, between October 2009 and December 2012, received SBRT for treatment of lung cancer at the Cleveland Clinic, and had 6-minute walk test (6MWT) followed by HRR evaluation performed within six months of initiation of treatment. Impaired HRR was defined as a ≤ 12 beat decrease within the first minute following the 6MWT. Survival analyses were performed using Kaplan-Meier estimates and Cox proportional hazard ratios.Forty nine patients who received SBRT for treatment of early-stage lung cancer had HRR data available. Thirty two (65%) patients had impaired HRR following the 6MWT. In univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses, impaired HRR was associated with poorer survival (HR: 11.0, 95% CI: 1.42 - 84.4, p = 0.004, and HR: 15.8, 95% CI: 1.96 - 128.0, p = 0.010, respectively). The 2-year overall survival rates were 52.6% for those with impaired HRR, and 94.1% for those with normal HRR.Impaired HRR was associated with poorer survival in patients who received SBRT for treatment of early-stage lung cancer. HRR following the 6MWT can be one of the factors considered in patient selection for treatment with SBRT, along with other medical comorbidities.

Methods that predict prognosis and response to therapy in pulmonary hypertension (PH) are lacking. We tested whether the noninvasive estimation of hemodynamic parameters during 6-minute walk test (6MWT) in PH patients provides information that can improve the value of the test.We estimated hemodynamic parameters during the 6MWT using a portable, signal-morphology-based, impedance cardiograph (PhysioFlow Enduro) with real-time wireless monitoring via a bluetooth USB adapter.We recruited 48 subjects in the study (30 with PH and 18 healthy controls). PH patients had significantly lower maximum stroke volume (SV) and CI and slower cardiac output (CO) acceleration and decelerations slopes during the test when compared with healthy controls. In PH patients, CI change was associated with total distance walked (R = 0.62; P0.001) and percentage of predicted (R = 0.4, P = 0.03), HR recovery at 1 minute (0.57, P0.001), 2 minutes (0.65, P0.001), and 3 minutes (0.66, P0.001). Interestingly, in PH patients CO change during the test was predominantly related to an increase in SV instead of HR.Estimation of hemodynamic parameters such as cardiac index during 6-minute walk test is feasible and may provide useful information in patients with PH. Clin Trans Sci 2013; Volume #: 1-7.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is frequently encountered in patients with advanced lung disease before the first and second lung transplantation. We sought to determine whether there is any relationship between pulmonary hemodynamics obtained before first and second lung transplantation. We also assessed whether PH has prognostic implications in lung transplant patients going for second transplantation.We included consecutive adult (16-yr-old or older) patients who underwent lung re-transplantation, between 1997 and 2009, and had right heart catheterization before their first and second lung transplantation.Eighteen patients were included in the study. Age at first transplantation was 50.4 (SD 10.4) yr, and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) in the transplanted lung was the only indication for re-transplantation. PH was observed in 39% of the patients before the first lung transplant and in 56% of the subjects before re-transplantation (p = 0.91). Pre-capillary PH was present in 28% (n = 5) and 33% (n = 6) of the patients before first and second lung transplantation, respectively. None of the hemodynamic variables obtained before the first transplant predicted the development of PH before re-transplantation. PH before re-transplantation did not predict survival or development of BOS after re-transplantation.PH before initial lung transplantation did not predict the development of PH before the second transplantation. In our cohort, PH before second lung transplantation did not predict outcomes after re-transplantation.