How Do Heart Failure Patients Fare After Major Noncardiac Surgery?

Heart failure (HF) is becoming more prevalent among people age 65 or older, of whom growing numbers are undergoing noncardiac surgical procedures. Research on perioperative . . .

Heart failure (HF) is becoming more prevalent among people age 65 or older, of whom growing numbers are undergoing noncardiac surgical procedures. Research on perioperative risk has tended to focus on patients with ischemic heart disease, not on those with HF. These researchers used ICD-9 and procedural codes to compare outcomes of Medicare patients who underwent major noncardiac surgery (abdominal, orthopedic, thoracic, vascular, or other) in 1997 and 1998: 1532 patients with HF, 1757 with coronary artery disease, and 44,512 controls with neither HF nor CAD.

After adjustment for demographic variables, type of surgery, and comorbidities, the 30-day operative mortality rate was significantly higher in the HF group (11.7%) than in the CAD (6.6…

Reviewing Author

William T. Abraham, MD