Impact of co‐morbidity on mortality after oesophageal cancer surgery. BJS 2015; 102: 1097-1105.

Results

Among 1822 patients there were 1474 deaths (80·9 per cent), of which 1139 (77·3 per cent) occurred between 91 days and 5 years after surgery. Overall all‐cause mortality was increased in patients with a Charlson score of 2 or more (HR 1·24, 95 per cent c.i. 1·08 to 1·42), and those with a history of myocardial infarction (HR 1·23, 1·01 to 1·49) or congestive heart failure (HR 1·31, 1·04 to 1·67). Patients with squamous cell carcinoma had increased overall all‐cause mortality if they had been diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease (HR 1·35, 1·00 to 1·83) or other cancers (HR 1·36, 1·09 to 1·71), whereas those with adenocarcinoma did not. A Charlson score of 1 or exposure to the co‐morbidity groups peripheral vascular disease, chronic pulmonary disease, connective tissue disease, peptic ulcer disease, diabetes and liver disease did not increase mortality. The disease‐specific results were generally similar to the all‐cause mortality data.