85 Late cardiac toxicity in survivors of esophageal cancer significant between the groups (p=0.03). No differences were found in pulmonary symptoms (EORTC QLQ-LC13). The results regarding laboratory findings, ECG and 6-minutes walking test are summarized in Table 2. QTc intervals on ECG were significantly shorter in the nCRT patients. No other signs for conduction disorders were found. Table 2 Questionnaires, blood tests, ECG, 6MWT* Surgery(n=20) CRT + Surgery(n=20) p value age corrected p value Global health (EORTC QLQ-C30) 72.1 (2.9) 70.4 (2.7) ns ns Physical functioning (EORTC QLQC30) 89.3 (2.5) 88.0 (2.0) ns 0.15 Role functioning (EORTC QLQ-C30) 95.0 (3.3) 88.8 (2.4) 0.13 0.03 Emotional functioning (EORTC QLQ-C30) 94.7 (1.7) 91.9 (2.4) ns ns Cognitive functioning (EORTC QLQ-C30) 90.6 (2.5) 96.3 (1.6) 0.07 ns Fatigue (EORTC QLQ-C30) 9.2 (2.1) 13.8 (2.1) 0.13 0.15 ECG PQ time(ms) 182 (6.7) 175 (6.7) ns ns QRS complex(ms) 94 (2.7) 90 (2.3) 0.18 0.11 QT (Bazet corrected)(ms) 432 (4.1) 423 (3.4) 0.10 0.03 6-minute walking test (% predicted) 74.6 (3.4) 70.9 (3.6) ns Blood tests HS-TNT(ng/L) 14.0 (1.9) 10.6 (1.0) 0.13 ns NT-pro BNP(ng/L) 250 (93.2) 362 (108.1) ns 0.19 *Standard error of the mean(SEM) between brackets Thoracic CT-scans were performed in all patients. CAC scores were less reliable in 6 patients because of cardiac interventions (CABG and coronary stents). However, scores of these patients did not influence the conclusion: there was no difference between the groups. Functional and dimensional parameters were measured using echocardiography and cardiac MRI. No significant differences were seen between the two treatment groups regarding signs of pulmonary hypertension, systolic or diastolic dysfunction and valve disorders. A significant difference in myocardial wall thickness of the septum (p=0.04) was observed, but when correcting for age, the effect of radiotherapy on this parameter became non-significant (table 3). A complete overview of these data is added as supplementary data (Sup 1). 6
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