Should abdominal CT scan be performed routinely prior to CRT insertion?

Introduction: Cancer appears to be a major noncardiovascular factor affecting morbidity and mortality of heart failure (HF) patients. Risk of developing cancer seems to increase over time. It is well documented that patients with cancer treated with chemiotherapy are at risk of developing HF and therefore they should be screened for HF on regular basis. There is limited data whether the opposite should be done, namely routinely screen each HF patient for cancer.

Purpose: We hypothesized that in HF patients cancer might be responsible for some symptoms that are incorrectly diagnose as HF related.

Material and methods: The data from “Renal Denervation in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure and Resynchronization Therapy” study of 18 patients (22% women) aged 73.2 (±9.1 years) with HF in NYHA Class II-IV and resynchronization pacemaker implanted according to current ESC guideliness at least 6 months earlier were analyzed. Patients had symptoms of heart failure despite optimal HF therapy including pharmacotherapy and CRT. Medical history including current symptoms of HF was taken, patients’ demographics and vital signs were assessed. Diagnostic tests in the study group included echocardiography, abdominal CT scan and laboratory tests.

Results: Only in 5 patients CT scan did not show any abnormalities. Renal cysts were present in 5 patients, adrenal glands adenomas were observed in 3 patients and both changes were present in 1 patient. Tumors suspected of malignancy were diagnosed in 4 patients - 2 had a tumor in adrenal glands, 1 had kidney tumor and 1 had tumors both in kidney and adrenal gland. All patients with malignancy were directed for further oncological evaluation.

Conclusion: Considering the complex physiology of HF, there is possibility that some HF related mechanisms might trigger cancer development and presence of cancer may aggrevate the symptoms of HF. One should consider evaluation of HF patients on optimal medical therapy, yet still symptomatic to identify some common forms of cancer.