Preoperative resting heart rate: a novel risk factor for cardiopulmonary complications after lung resection

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths and ranks as the second most common malignancy in the world. Nowadays, surgical resection still remains the optimal therapeutic option for early-stage operable NSCLC and also plays a key role in multidisciplinary treatment for locally advanced NSCLC. Despite advances in surgical techniques, the morbidity rate still remains as high as 25–35% after elective pulmonary resections, and the cardiopulmonary complications (CPCs) occupy the largest percentage of all postoperative outcomes (1).