Ann Thorac Surg 2001;72:S2218-S2219
© 2001 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Supplement: Monitoring and improving patient safety during and following cardiac surgery
Discussion
Robert M. Mentzer, Jr, MDa
a Department of Surgery, University of Kentucky, MN264 University of Kentucky Medical Center, 800 Rose Street, Lexington, KY 40536, USA
e-mail: mentzer@pop.uky.edu
I want to compliment Dr Al-Tabbaa on his fine presentation and congratulate him on his work in this area. It is clear from his presentation that intraoperative echocardiography can be extremely helpful to both the surgeon and anesthesiologist in diagnosing and assessing myocardial injury. This, in turn, can help the surgical team strategize on how best to minimize postischemic ventricular dysfunction.
The problem of postoperative myocardial injury after heart surgery should not be underestimated. Heart surgery is now one of the most commonly performed operations in the United States. In 1998 alone, it is estimated that more than 730,000 surgical procedures were performed. Of these, more than 70% of the operations involved some form of myocardial revascularization. It is quite likely that in the next 2 to 3 years, over 1 million heart operations will be performed annually. If, as suggested by Dr Mangano and his colleagues, 10% of coronary artery bypass surgery patients may experience a serious cardiac complication, eg, infarction, heart failure, or death, this means that a considerable number of patients are at risk. The economic impact is not inconsequential, as well. The cost of the morbidity and mortality . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Copyright © 2001 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
