The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Established in 1989, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database is one of the most comprehensive clinical data registries in health care. It is widely regarded as the gold standard for benchmarking risk-adjusted outcomes in cardiac surgery and is the foundation for all quality measurement and improvement activities of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. This is the second in a series of annual reports that summarizes current aggregate national outcomes in cardiac surgery and reviews database-related activities in the areas of quality measurement and performance improvement during the past year.
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Although body mass index (BMI) has been used in risk stratification for lung resection, many models only take obesity into account. Recent studies have demonstrated that underweight patients also experience increased postoperative complications. We explored the relationship of extremes of BMI to outcomes after lung resection for non-small cell cancer. ⋯ BMI is associated with postoperative complications after lung resection for cancer. Being underweight or severely overweight is associated with an increased risk of complications, whereas being overweight or moderately obese appears to have a protective effect.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Outcomes Using a Conservative Versus Liberal Red Blood Cell Transfusion Strategy in Infants Requiring Cardiac Operation.
The optimal hemoglobin for infants after cardiac operation is unknown. Red blood cells (RBCs) are commonly transfused to maintain high hemoglobin concentrations in the absence of a clinical indication. We hypothesized that infants can be managed with a postoperative conservative RBC transfusion strategy, resulting in lower daily hemoglobin concentrations, without evidence of impaired oxygen delivery (ie, lactate, arteriovenous oxygen difference [avO2diff]), or adverse clinical outcomes. ⋯ Infants undergoing cardiac operation can be managed with a conservative RBC transfusion strategy. Clinical indications should help guide the decision for RBC transfusion even in this uniquely vulnerable population. Larger multicenter trials are needed to confirm these results, and focus on the highest risk patients would be of great interest.
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Multicenter Study
Optimal Timing From Myocardial Infarction to Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting on Hospital Mortality.
Whether delaying coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) after myocardial infarction (MI) is associated with better outcomes or is an unnecessary use of health care resources is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between MI-to-CABG timing on in-hospital death. ⋯ Patients operated on 1 to 2 days and 3 to 7 days after MI had a similar mortality rate, suggesting it may be possible to reduce the MI-to-CABG interval for some patients without sacrificing outcomes. Patients operated on within 1 day after MI had a higher mortality rate.
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Patients with persistent N2 disease after induction have poor survival. Many of these patients may have had mediastinoscopy before induction therapy, making reassessment of the mediastinum by repeat mediastinoscopy hazardous and inaccurate. The sensitivity and specificity of endobronchial ultrasonography and nodal fine-needle aspiration in this setting is unclear. In this study, we sought to identify the clinical predictors of persistent N2 disease after induction therapy, which may help in selecting the patients most likely to benefit from surgical resection. ⋯ Patients with upper lobe tumors and less than 60% reduction in N2 SUVmax are more likely to have persistent N2 disease, which is often associated with poor survival rates. These clinical prognostic criteria may help surgeons in stratifying patients and properly selecting optimal surgical candidates.