Predictive effect of J waves on cardiac compression and clinical prognosis of esophageal tumors: a retrospective study

Background: The J wave syndromes (JWS) could be observed in patients with mediastinal tumors, though few studies have verified the statistical correlation between J waves and cardiac compression by tumors. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between J waves and cardiac compression by esophageal tumor and to compare the prediction of waves on clinical prognosis with that of cardiac compression by esophageal tumor. Methods: We enrolled 273 patients (228 males, 45 females; mean 63.8 +/- 7.5 years) with esophageal tumors admitted to Shanghai Chest Hospital between August 2016 and November 2020. The J wave was defined as a J-point elevation of >= 0.1 mV in a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) and classified into multiple types. Chest computed tomography (CI) was reviewed to clarify the anatomical relationship between the heart and the esophageal tumor. The prognosis of severe cardiac events and survival status were followed up through medical history, examination records and telephone records. Results: J waves were present in 141 patients among all 273 cases. The sensitivity and specificity of cardiac compression by the tumor for J waves were 78.1% and 67.3%, respectively. The odds ratio (OR) of cardiac compression by the tumor to J waves was 7.33 [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.21-12.74; P<0.001]. The Kappa coefficient between J waves and cardiac compression was 0.44 +/- 0.05. The significance association between J waves and cardiac compression was independent from other clinical variables (P4.001). Decreased J wave amplitude was correlated with the disappearance of cardiac compression during follow-up (P=0.03). Patients with J waves had a higher risk of severe cardiac events than those withoutJ waves (OR =2.84, 95% CI: 1.22-6.63; P=0.01). During the follow-up period, we found that the presence ofJ waves [hazard ratio (HR) =2.28; 95% CI: 1.35-3.84; P=0.002] and cardiac compression by the tumor (HR =2.51; 95% CI: 1.51-4.17; P<0.001) were both negatively correlated with the survival time of patients. Conclusions: The presence of J waves could be used as an effective mean to predict the mechanical impact of esophageal tumor on the heart, and played an important role in predicting the survival of patients.