EACVI: Severe Valvular Heart Disease Prevalent Among Patients With Cancer

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Severe valvular heart disease (VHD) is prevalent among patients with cancer and is associated with reduced survival, according to a study presented at the annual congress of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging, held from Dec. 11 to 13 in Vienna.

Maximilian Autherith, M.D., from the Medical University of Vienna, and colleagues examined the prevalence, characteristics, management approaches, and associated outcomes of VHD in patients with cancer in a large-scale observational cohort study involving adults with a confirmed oncologic diagnosis and a transthoracic echocardiography at the time of cancer diagnosis.

The study included 10,353 patients, of whom 7.2 percent had severe VHD. The researchers found that severe valvular lesions included aortic stenosis, mitral regurgitation, tricuspid regurgitation, and aortic regurgitation in 2.2, 2.6, 3.7, and 0.3 percent of patients, respectively. Compared with those without significant VHD, patients with severe VHD were older, with higher N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and a higher prevalence of cardiovascular comorbidities. Severe VHD was a predictor of increased mortality and cardiovascular death in multivariable regression, after adjustment for age, sex, NT-proBNP, eGFR, and left ventricular function (adjusted hazard ratios, 1.46 and 2.62, respectively). During a median follow-up of 23.0 months, 21.5 percent of those with severe VHD received a valvular intervention. Independent associations were seen for valvular interventions with improved survival (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.28).

“Our findings highlight the need to refer cancer patients for regular cardiovascular monitoring and also suggest that interventions for valvular heart disease do not need to be withheld in this population,” Autherith said in a statement.

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