In-Hospital Death After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: Preventable or Not?

An implicit chart review and analysis highlights the importance of asking this question, even in institutions with low all-cause mortality rates.

To improve quality of care, researchers in Ontario assessed the relation between publicly reported in-hospital mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery and the proportion of such deaths deemed preventable. Data were culled from medical records of 40 deaths that occurred at each of eight hospitals (plus 27 deaths that occurred at a cardiac surgery center) participating in a surgical registry from April 2000 through March 2002. Charts were abstracted by trained nurses and reviewed by two experienced cardiac surgeons.

Among 347 deaths reviewed, 52 (15%) were judged preventable by both reviewers, and an additional 59 (17%) were deemed preventable by one of the two and by a third independent reviewer. Quality-of-care problems ident…

Reviewing Author

Howard C. Herrmann, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardAffluent Medical; Artedrone; Caranx; Johnson & Johnson; Medtronic; Prolifagen; Wells Fargo

EquityMicrointerventional Devices, Inc.

RoyaltiesUniversity of Pennsylvania

Grant/Research SupportAbbott Vascular; Edwards Lifesciences; Johnson & Johnson; Medtronic

Editorial BoardsCatheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions; Journal of the American College of Cardiology; Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions; JACC Cardiovascular Interventions; JACC Case Reports; JSCAI