Acta Chir Belg
-
Although perioperative myocardial infarction has a relative low incidence, its occurrence is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. Although many single risk factors for developing a perioperative myocardial infarction have been described, it soon became apparent that surgical risk could hardly be determined by one single factor. ⋯ Further investigation, however, indicated that the risk of developing a perioperative myocardial infarction was not only determined by preoperative risk factors and a number of peroperative risk factors were also identified. Since identification of those patients, particularly at risk for developing a perioperative myocardial infarction, is a matter of prime importance in the choice of the treatment and the monitoring, a thorough understanding and knowledge of the different pre- and peroperative risk factors is a must for every surgeon and anesthetist.