A new algorithm for preoperative cardiac assessment in patients undergoing pulmonary resection

From January 2001 through June 2002, 128 consecutive patients undergoing lung resection for various diseases were evaluated preoperatively by a cardiologist at our institution in order to predict postoperative cardiac complications in pulmonary surgery. Our assessment algorithm consisted of the following: Smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, advanced age, diabetes mellitus, and history of cardiac disease or angina pectoris were considered as risk factors. A stress test was performed when at least 2 of the first 3 risk factors or at least 1 of the last 3 risk factors was present. Coronary angiography was performed in the case of a positive stress test. Patients were classified as low-risk when there was no need for a stress test. Patients were considered as intermediate-risk when a stress test revealed no ischemia or if there was a history of congestive heart failure or valvular disease. Patients in whom coronary artery disease was detected on angiography were classified as high-risk. Ninety-five of our patients were in the low-risk group, and 29 were in the intermediate-risk group. After lung resection, cardiac complications developed in 4 patients in the low-risk group (atrial fibrillation) and in 8 patients in the intermediate-risk group (5 atrial fibrillation and 3 paroxysmal atrial tachycardia). The overall cardiac complication rate was 9.7%. No death occurred due to cardiac events. The difference in the incidence of arrhythmias between the low- and the intermediate-risk groups was significant (P < 0.05). We present this simple algorithm for preoperative cardiac evaluation in patients scheduled to undergo lung resection, and we suggest that it may be possible to predict postoperative cardiac complications with this method.     

Guideline review: European Guideline on IgG4-related digestive disease: UEG and SGF evidence-based recommendations

Immunoglobulin subclass 4 related disease (IgG4-RD) is an increasingly recognised autoimmune disease with the potential of affecting various organs. It has a predilection for certain anatomical hotspots and the pancreatobiliary tract is the the most common area involved. Due to the relative novelty of IgG4-RD, the understanding of the disease process continues to involve. Recent European guidelines on IgG4-RD have been published by a working group collaboration between the United European Gastroenterology and Swedish Society of Gastroenterology. In our commentary, we aim to extract the key practical points with an emphasis on diagnosis and management of IgG4-RD with specific focus on the pancreatobiliary tract.     

Global Guideline for Type 2 Diabetes: recommendations for standard,comprehensive, and minimal care

The Clinical Guidelines Task Force of the International Diabetes Federation has created an evidence‐based Global Guideline for the care of people with Type 2 diabetes around the world. The recommendations developed for three levels of care (standard, comprehensive, and minimal), which can be applied in settings with different resources, are presented here. The source document is published elsewhere.     

Implementation of the ACC/AHA guidelines for preoperative cardiac risk assessment in a general medicine preoperative clinic: improving efficiency and preserving outcomes

BACKGROUND: The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) publishes recommendations for cardiac assessment of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery with the intent of promoting evidence-based, efficient preoperative screening and management. We sought to study the impact of guideline implementation for cardiac risk assessment in a general internal medicine preoperative clinic. METHODS: The study was an observational cohort study of consecutive patients being evaluated in an outpatient preoperative evaluation clinic before and after implementation of the ACC/AHA guideline. Data was gathered by retrospective abstraction of hospital and clinic charts using standard definitions. 299 patients were reviewed prior to guideline implementation and their care compared to 339 consecutive patients after the guideline was implemented in the clinic. RESULTS: Guideline implementation led to a reduction in exercise stress testing (30.8% before, 16.2% after; p<0.001) and hospital length of stay (6.5 days before, 5.6 days after; p=0.055). beta-Blocker therapy increased after the intervention (15.7% before; 34.5% after; p<0.001) and preoperative test appropriateness improved (86% before to 94.1% after; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of the ACC/AHA guidelines for cardiac risk assessment prior to noncardiac surgery in an internal medicine preoperative assessment clinic led to a more appropriate use of preoperative stress testing and beta-blocker therapy while preserving a low rate of cardiac complications.     

The preoperative consultation. Response to internists' recommendations

Preoperative consultations are frequently performed; however, little is known about the way requesters respond to the recommendations offered. For this reason, 90 consecutive preoperative consultations, performed by a general medical unit, were reviewed and compared with 66 consecutive nonpreoperative consultations, performed by the same unit during the same period. Analysis disclosed that recommendations made during preoperative consultation were often not followed and were less likely to be followed than were those made during nonpreoperative consultation (53.9% v 68.9%). Controlling for the type of consultative advice offered and for the type of surgical service requesting the consultation did not alter this relationship. These results highlight the particular importance of consultant follow-up for recommendations made during preoperative consultations.     

Morbidity and duration of ICU stay after cardiac surgery. A model for preoperative risk assessment.

Although risk factors for mortality after cardiac surgery have been identified, there is no widely applicable method for readily determining risk of postoperative morbidity based on preoperative severity of illness. The goal of this study was to develop a model for stratifying the risk of serious morbidity after adult cardiac surgery using readily available and objective clinical data. After univariate analysis of risk factors in 3,156 operations, 11 variables were identified as important predictors by logistic regression (LR) analysis and used to construct an additive model to calculate the probability of serious morbidity. Reliable correlation was found between a simplified additive model for clinical use and the LR model. The clinical and logistic models were then tested prospectively in 394 patients and demonstrated a pattern of increasing morbidity with ascending scores similar to that predicted by the reference group. Increasing clinical risk score was also associated with a greater frequency of individual complications as well as prolongation of ICU stay. This study demonstrates that it is feasible to design a simple method to stratify the risk of serious morbidity after adult cardiac surgery. With further prospective multicenter refinement and testing, such a model is likely to be useful for adjusting severity of illness when reporting outcome statistics as well as planning resource utilization.     

Role of dobutamine stress echocardiography for preoperative cardiac risk assessment before major vascular surgery: a diagnostic tool comes of age

BACKGROUND: Cardiac complications are a major cause for perioperative mortality and morbidity. Also, the presence and severity of underlying coronary artery disease (CAD) determine long-term prognosis after successful surgery. AIM: This overview evaluates the additional value of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) to common clinical cardiac risk factors and other noninvasive cardiac imaging modalities for perioperative and late cardiac prognosis. RESULTS: DSE provides theattending physician with preoperative prognostic information for perioperative and long-term prognosis for cardiac events. It also enables the selection of high risk patients for evaluation of cardiac risk reduction therapies. CONCLUSIONS: DSE is a useful tool for preoperative cardiac risk evaluation in addition to common clinical cardiac risk factors.     

心脏再同步治疗慢性心力衰竭的建议

慢性心力衰竭是心内科治疗学上的难题，是使患者丧失工作能力，具有较高患病率和病死率的严重疾患。流行病学资料显示：美国大约有500万人罹患心力衰竭，每年新增病例55万；全球心力衰竭患病人数高达2250万，每年新增病例数200万。我国2003年一项心力衰竭流行病学调查资料显示，在35—74岁人群中，心力衰竭患病率为0．9％。按此比率推算，我国35—74岁人群中约有心力衰竭患者400万人。心力衰竭的病死率与临床严重程度相关。     

Advances in nuclear imaging for preoperative risk assessment

Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is frequently utilized for preoperative risk assessment. Results are pertinent for longterm risk. MPI, though most frequently applied in intermediate-risk patients, may also be valuable in selected low- and high-risk individuals. Coronary stenting may alter the timing of noncardiac surgery, which should be considered when performing preoperative risk assessment.     

Combining clinical and thallium data optimizes preoperative assessment of cardiac risk before major vascular surgery

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine whether clinical markers and preoperative dipyridamole-thallium imaging are both useful in predicting ischemic events after vascular surgery. DESIGN: Retrospective, observational study. SETTING: University medical center. PATIENTS: Two hundred fifty-four consecutive patients referred to a nuclear cardiology laboratory before surgery. Forty-four patients had surgery cancelled or postponed after clinical evaluation and dipyridamole-thallium imaging. Surgery was not confirmed for ten. Two hundred patients receiving prompt vascular surgery were the study group. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Thirty patients (15%) had early postoperative cardiac ischemic events, with cardiac death in 6 (3%) and nonfatal myocardial infarction in 9 (4.5%). Logistic regression identified five clinical predictors (Q waves, history of ventricular ectopic activity, diabetes, advanced age, angina) and two dipyridamole-thallium predictors of postoperative events. Of patients with none of the clinical variables (n = 64), only 2 (3.1%; 95% CI, 0% to 8%) had ischemic events with no cardiac deaths. Ten of twenty (50%; 95% CI, 29% to 71%) patients with three or more clinical markers had events. Eighteen of one hundred sixteen (15.5%; 95% CI, 7% to 21%) patients with either 1 or 2 clinical predictors had events. Within this group, 2 of 62 (3.2%; 95% CI, 0% to 8%) patients without thallium redistribution had events compared with 16 events in 54 patients (29.6%; 95% CI, 16% to 44%) with thallium redistribution. The multivariate model using both clinical and thallium variables showed significantly higher specificity at equivalent sensitivity levels than models using either clinical or thallium variables alone. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative dipyridamole-thallium imaging appears most useful to stratify vascular patients determined to be at intermediate risk by clinical evaluation. For patients with one or two clinical predictors, thallium redistribution correlates with substantial change in probability of events. For nearly half the patients, however, thallium imaging may have been unnecessary because of very high or low cardiac risk predicted by clinical information alone.     

Guideline review: Biologics recommendations in the ECCO guidelines on therapeutics in Crohn's disease: medical treatment

In 2019, the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation released guidelines for the medical management of Crohn’s disease, concerning the induction of remission, the maintenance of remission and the treatment of fistulising perianal disease. This review summarises the key recommendations regarding the use of biologics in these settings.     

Predicting attendance at cardiac rehabilitation: a review and recommendations

Attending a cardiac rehabilitation programme is of proven benefit to those recovering from a myocardial infarction, resulting in a reduction of risk factors, distress, morbidity and mortality. But despite proven benefits, uptake of services can be low. To understand why attendance can be low, there is a growing body of research investigating factors that may influence and predict attendance. These research studies, which have found various factors such as age, gender, social deprivation and distance from a programme to influence attendance, will be reviewed. Given that sociodemographic and medical factors influence attendance, recent research has focused on investigating the role of factors which may be more amenable to change. These studies have found that psychological factors, such as the way a patient understands their illness, influence attendance. Psychological models such Leventhal's Self-regulatory Model and The Theory of Planned Behaviour have been used to guide this research. Each of these models will be presented here in relation to cardiac rehabilitation (CR), in addition to the research studies which have investigated their usefulness in predicting who attends CR. Research implications for service provision will be discussed and recommendations for increasing attendance will be presented.     

Echocardiographic assessment of valve stenosis: EAE/ASE recommendations for clinical practice

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.