Surgery May Improve Survival Rates For Carcinoid Heart Disease

In the study of patients with metastatic carcinoid, the risk of developing carcinoid heart disease decreased significantly after cardiac surgery. This was followed by a reduction in the mortality rate from 20% to 10%. The investigators attributed this to the reduced rate of cardiac tumors. Overall, the risks of developing this condition are still high, but treatment options are improving. This is the first study to show that surgery may improve survival rates for this condition.

Surgical resection of the cancerous tumour is curative for carcinoid heart disease. Treatment of the syndrome is palliative and involves debulking of the tumour to relieve symptoms. Hepatic artery ligation is used to treat hepatic metastases. Currently, treatment of carcinoid heart disease is categorized into two groups: right and left ventricular failure, and valvular pathology.

In a recent study, about 14% of patients with carcinoid heart disease had symptoms at the time of their diagnosis. Surgical intervention is the only treatment for this condition. In addition to surgery, patients can undergo various medical treatments, including somatostatin analogues. One such drug is octreotide. This medication may help reduce the symptoms of carcinoid heart disease and the associated risk of death.

The research included a group of 66 patients who were diagnosed with the syndrome and who had undergone echocardiography. The study compared the outcomes of the patients in these groups by the time they were first diagnosed with carcinoid heart disease. It included both asymptomatic and symptomatic patients. The researchers examined the medical records of the 67 patients and recorded the date of diagnosis of carcinoid heart disease. In group A, the patients were first diagnosed with carcinoid heart diseases between 1981 and June 1989, and group B, the patients diagnosed between July 1989 and May 1995.