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Background: It is unclear how mortality and causes of death vary between patients and surgical procedures and how occurrence of postoperative complications is associated with prognosis. This study describes long-term mortality rates and causes of death in a general surgical population. Furthermore, we explore the effect of postoperative complications on mortality., Methods: A single-centre analysis of postoperative complications, with mortality as primary endpoint, was conducted in 4479 patients undergoing surgery. We applied univariate and multivariable regression models to analyse the effect of risk factors, including surgical risk and postoperative complications, on mortality. Causes of death were also explored., Results: 75 patients (1.7 %) died within 30 days after surgery and 730 patients (16.3 %) died during a median follow-up of 6.3 years (IQR 5.8-6.8). Significant differences in long-term mortality were observed with worst outcome for patients undergoing high-risk vascular surgery (HR 1.5; 95 % CI 1.2-1.9). When looking at causes of death, high-risk surgery was associated with a twofold higher risk of cardiovascular death (HR 1.9; 95 % CI 1.2-3.1), whereas the intermediate-risk group had a higher risk of dying from cancer-related causes (HR 1.5; 95 % CI 1.1-2.0). Occurrence of complications-particularly of cardiovascular nature- was associated with worse survival (HR 1.9; 95 % CI 1.3-2.7)., Conclusion: High-risk vascular surgery and occurrence of postoperative complications are important predictors of late mortality. Further focus on these groups of patients can contribute to reduced morbidity. Improvement in quality of care should be aimed at preventing postoperative complications and thus a better outcome in a general surgical population., Competing Interests: Compliance with ethical standards Conflicts of interest None.

Purpose: Vascular intervention studies generally consider patency and limb salvage as primary outcomes. However, quality of life is increasingly considered an important patient-oriented outcome measurement of vascular interventions. Existing literature was analyzed to determine the effect of different treatments on quality of life for patients suffering from either claudication or critical limb ischemia., Basic Methods: A review of the literature was undertaken in the Medline library. A search was performed on quality of life in peripheral arterial disease. Results were stratified according to treatment groups., Principal Findings: Twenty-one articles described quality of life in approximately 4600 patients suffering from peripheral arterial disease. Invasive treatment generally results in better quality of life scores (at a maximum of 2 years of follow-up), compared with non-invasive treatment. In patients with critical limb ischemia, successful revascularization improves quality of life scores. Only one study reported long-term results., Conclusions: Increase in quality of life scores can be found for any intervention performed for peripheral arterial disease. However, there is scarce information on long-term quality of life after vascular intervention., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

Previous reports on the prognostic value of diabetes mellitus for cardiac complications after vascular surgery show divergent results, especially in regards to the role of type 2 diabetes as a cardiac risk factor, which remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of type 2 diabetes on 30-day cardiac complications after vascular surgery. Patients undergoing elective vascular surgery between 2002 and 2011 were included in this retrospective cohort study. Previous diagnosis of type 1 and 2 diabetes and use of oral glucose-lowering medications and insulin were recorded. Patients with type 1 diabetes were excluded from the analysis. The main outcome parameter was cardiac complications, a composite of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, severe arrhythmia and asymptomatic troponin release within 30 days of surgery. In multivariate analysis, corrections were made for comorbidities, demographics, medication use and surgical risk. Of 1462 patients, 329 (22.5%) patients had type 2 diabetes. Cardiac complications occurred in 155 (13.7%) patients without diabetes and in 68 (20.7%) with type 2 diabetes. In multivariate analysis, type 2 diabetes was associated with a significantly increased risk of 30-day cardiac complications (odds ratio 1.80; 95% confidence interval 1.25 to 2.60). Results were similar for type 2 diabetes patients managed with (odds ratio 1.84; 95% confidence interval 1.01 to 3.37) and without (odds ratio 1.79; 95% confidence interval 1.19 to 2.70) insulin. Type 2 diabetes is an independent risk factor for cardiac complications after vascular surgery and should be treated as such in preoperative cardiac risk stratification.

Objectives: Thrombotic complications are common in vascular surgery patients. Non-O blood types are associated with an increased risk of thrombo-embolic diseases. The aim of this study is to assess the prognostic implications of non-O vs. O blood type regarding 30-day cardiovascular events and long-term mortality after vascular surgery., Methods: The population of this retrospective cohort study consisted of 4679 patients undergoing elective major vascular surgery between the years 1990 and 2011. Baseline characteristics, ABO blood type and follow-up were obtained. Multivariable regression analyses, adjusted for age, gender, medical history, medication and smoking were used to evaluate the impact of non-O blood type on 30-day cardiovascular events (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and stroke) and long-term mortality., Results: Non-O blood type was present in 2627 (56%) patients. Within 30 days after surgery, 129 (4.9%) non-O and 112 (5.5%) O patients suffered a cardiovascular event (P = 0.42). Non-O blood type was not associated with increased mortality during long-term follow-up (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.96; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.88-1.04, with a median follow-up of 4 years). Anti-platelet and anticoagulant drugs did not interact with the relationship between ABO blood type and long-term outcome., Conclusion: Non-O blood type is not associated with either 30-day cardiovascular complications or long-term mortality in vascular surgery patients., (Copyright © 2012 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The objective was to evaluate the impact of gender on long-term survival of patients who underwent non-cardiac vascular surgery., Design, Material and Methods: Our prospectively collected data contained information on 560 patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA), 923 elective abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs (AAA) and 1046 lower limb reconstructions (LLR). Patient characteristics and long-term mortality of women were compared to that of men. Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival curves were constructed for men and women, on which we superimposed age- and sex-matched KM survival curves of the general population. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify risk factors for mortality., Results: Men in the CEA group had statistically significant higher all-cause mortality, hazard rate ratio (HRR) 1.41 (95% CI 1.01-1.98) No differences in mortality between the genders were observed in the AAA and LLR groups. Overall, men had more co-morbidities but received more disease-specific medication compared to women. Women retained their higher life expectancy after CEA but lost it in the AAA and LLR groups., Conclusion: Women retain their higher life expectancy after CEA; however, after AAA repair and LLR, this advantage is lost. Both men and women received too little disease-specific medication, but women were worse off., (Copyright © 2011 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This article describes the rationale and design of the DECREASE-XIII trial, which aims to evaluate the potential of esmolol infusion, an ultra-short-acting beta-blocker, during surgery as an add-on to chronic low-dose beta-blocker therapy to maintain perioperative haemodynamic stability during major vascular surgery., Design: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised trial., Materials & Methods: A total of 260 vascular surgery patients will be randomised to esmolol or placebo as an add-on to standard medical care, including chronic low-dose beta-blockers. Esmolol is titrated to maintain a heart rate within a target window of 60-80 beats per minute for 24 h from the induction of anaesthesia. Heart rate and ischaemia are assessed by continuous 12-lead electrocardiographic monitoring for 72 h, starting 1 day prior to surgery. The primary outcome measure is duration of heart rate outside the target window during infusion of the study drug. Secondary outcome measures will be the efficacy parameters of occurrence of cardiac ischaemia, troponin T release, myocardial infarction and cardiac death within 30 days after surgery and safety parameters such as the occurrence of stroke and hypotension., Conclusions: This study will provide data on the efficacy of esmolol titration in chronic beta-blocker users for tight heart-rate control and reduction of ischaemia in patients undergoing vascular surgery as well as data on safety parameters., (Copyright © 2011 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) assays with increased sensitivity might increase the number of positive tests. Using the area under the curve (AUC) with serial sampling of cTnT an exact quantification of the myocardial damage size can be made. We compared the prognosis of vascular surgery patients with integrated cTnT-AUC values to continuous and standard 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) changes., Methods: 513 Patients were monitored. cTnT sampling was performed on postoperative days 1, 3, 7, 30 and/or at discharge or whenever clinically indicated. If cTnT release occurred, daily measurements of cTnT were performed, until baseline was achieved. CTnT-AUC was quantified and divided in tertiles. All-cause mortality and cardiovascular events (cardiac death and myocardial infarction) were noted during follow-up., Results: 81/513 (16%) Patients had cTnT release. After adjustment for gender, cardiac risk factors, and site and type of surgery, those in the highest cTnT-AUC tertile were associated with a significantly worse cardiovascular outcome and long-term mortality (HR 20.2; 95% CI 10.2-40.0 and HR 4.0; 95% CI 2.0-7.8 respectively). Receiver operator analysis showed that the best cut-off value for cTnT-AUC was <0.01 days*ng m for predicting long-term cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality., Conclusion: In vascular surgery patients quantitative assessment of cTnT strongly predicts long-term outcome., (Copyright © 2010 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Smoking is an important modifiable risk factor in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). We investigated differences in quality of life (QoL) between patients who quitted smoking during follow-up and persistent smokers., Design: Cohort study., Methods: Data of 711 consecutively enrolled patients undergoing vascular surgery were collected in 11 hospitals in the Netherlands. Smoking status was obtained at baseline and at 3-year follow-up. A 5-year follow-up to measure QoL was performed with the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) and Peripheral Arterial Questionnaire (PAQ)., Results: After adjusting for clinical risk factors, patients, who quit smoking within 3 years after vascular surgery, did not report an impaired QoL (EQ-5D: odds ratio (OR) = 0.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.28-1.43; PAQ: OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.35-1.65; visual analogue scale (VAS): OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.42-1.84) compared with patients, who continued smoking. Current smokers were significantly more likely to have an impaired QoL (EQ-5D: OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.09-3.17; PAQ: OR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.00-2.65), although no differences in VAS scores were found (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.72-1.90)., Conclusions: There was no effect of smoking cessation on QoL in PAD patients undergoing vascular surgery. Nevertheless, given the link between smoking, complications and mortality in this patient group, smoking cessation should be a primary target in secondary prevention., (Copyright 2010 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate whether variation in mortality at hospital level reflects differences in quality of care of peripheral vascular surgery patients., Design: Observational study., Materials: In 11 hospitals in the Netherlands, 711 consecutive vascular surgery patients were enrolled., Methods: Multilevel logistic regression models were used to relate patient characteristics, structure and process of care to mortality at 1 year. The models were constructed by consecutively adding age, sex and Lee index, then remaining risk factors, followed by structural measures for quality of care and finally, selected process of care parameters., Results: Total 1-year mortality was 11%, ranging from 6% to 26% in different hospitals. Large differences in patient characteristics and quality indicators were observed between hospitals (e.g., age>70 years: 28-58%; beta-blocker therapy: 39-87%). Adjusted analyses showed that a large part of variation in mortality was explained by age, sex and the Lee index (Akaike's information criterion (AIC)=59, p<0.001). Another substantial part of the variation was explained by process of care (AIC=5, p=0.001)., Conclusions: Differences between hospitals exist in patient characteristics, structure of care, process of care and mortality. Even after adjusting for the patient population at risk, a substantial part of the variation in mortality can be explained by differences in process measures of quality of care., (Copyright (c) 2010 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Despite recent advancements in perioperative care and guideline recommendations, patients undergoing vascular surgery remain at risk for perioperative cardiovascular complications. In this review, the results are summarized of the most recent studies on the effectiveness and safety of perioperative statin use for the prevention of these perioperative cardiovascular complications. Perioperative statin therapy was associated with an improvement in postoperative cardiovascular outcome and a reduction in serum lipid levels and levels of inflammation markers.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) after major vascular surgery is an important risk factor for adverse long-term outcomes. The pleiotropic effects of statins may reduce kidney injury caused by perioperative episodes of hypotension and/or suprarenal clamping and improve long-term outcomes., Methods: Of 2170 consecutive patients undergoing lower extremity bypass or abdominal aortic surgery from 1995 to 2006, cardiac risk factors and medication were noted. A total of 515/1944 (27%) patients were statin users. Creatinine clearance (CrCl) was assessed preoperatively at 1, 2 and 3 days after surgery. Outcome measures were postoperative AKI and long-term mortality. Postoperative kidney injury was defined as a >10% decrease in CrCl on Day 1 or 2, compared to the baseline. Recovery of kidney function was defined as a CrCl >90% of the baseline value at Day 3 after surgery. Multivariable Cox regression analysis, including baseline cardiovascular risk factors, baseline CrCl and propensity score for statin use, was applied to evaluate the influence of statins on early postoperative kidney injury and long-term survival., Results: AKI occurred in 664 (34%) patients [median -25% CrCl, range (-10% to -71%)]. Of these 664 patients, 313 (47%) had a complete recovery of kidney function at Day 3 after surgery. Age, hypertension, suprarenal cross-clamping and baseline CrCl predicted the development of kidney injury during the postoperative period. The incidence of kidney injury was similar among statin users and non-users (29% versus 25%, OR 1.15, 95% CI 0.9-1.5). However, if kidney function deteriorated, statin use was associated with increased odds of complete kidney function recovery (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.0-3.8). During a mean follow-up of 6.24 years, half of the patients died (55%). Importantly, statin use was also associated with an improved long-term survival, irrespective of kidney function change (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.48-0.75)., Conclusion: Statin use is associated with improved recovery from AKI after major surgery and has a beneficial effect on long-term survival.

Objectives: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is associated with adverse cardiovascular events and can significantly impair patients' health status. Recently, marked methodological improvements in the measurement of PAD patients' health status have been made. The Peripheral Artery Questionnaire (PAQ) was specifically developed for this purpose. We validated a Dutch version of the PAQ in a large sample of PAD patients., Design: Cross-sectional study., Methods: The Dutch PAQ was completed by 465 PAD patients (70% men, mean age 65+/-10 years) participating in the Euro Heart Survey Programme. Principal components analysis and reliability analyses were performed. Convergent validity was documented by comparing the PAQ with EQ-5D scales., Results: Three factors were discerned; Physical Function, Perceived Disability, and Treatment Satisfaction (factor loadings between 0.50 and 0.90). Cronbach's alpha values were excellent (mean alpha=0.94). Shared variance of the PAQ domains with EQ-5D scales ranged from 3 to 50%., Conclusions: The Dutch PAQ proved to have good measurement qualities; assessment of Physical Function, Perceived Disability, and Treatment Satisfaction facilitates the monitoring of patients' perceived health in clinical research and practice. Measuring disease-specific health status in a reliable way becomes essential in times were a wide array of treatment options are available for PAD patients.

Beta-blockers are known to improve postoperative outcome after major vascular surgery. We studied the effects of beta-blockers in 2126 vascular surgery patients with and without kidney disease followed for 14 years. Creatinine clearance was calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault equation, and kidney function was categorized as Stage 1 for a reference group of 550 patients, Stage 2 with 808 patients, Stage 3 with 627 patients, and combined Stages 4 and 5 with 141 patients. Outcome measures were 30-day and long-term all-cause mortality with a mean follow-up of 6 years. Cox proportional hazards models were used to control cardiovascular risk factors, including propensity for beta-blocker use. In all, 129 (6%) and 1190 (56%) patients died respectively. Mortality rates were three- and two-fold higher, respectively, for patients at Stages 3-5 compared to the reference group for the two outcomes. beta-Blocker use was significantly associated with a lower risk of mortality after surgery. The overall adjusted hazard ratio was 0.35 and 0.62, respectively, for individuals at Stages 3-5 compared to the reference group for 30-day and long-term mortality. This study shows that kidney function is a predictor of all-cause mortality and beta-blocker use is associated with a lower risk of death in kidney disease patients undergoing elective vascular surgery.

Objectives: To assess the relation between beta-blocker use, underlying cardiac risk, and 1-year outcome in vascular surgery patients, including the effect of beta-blocker withdrawal., Design: Prospective survey., Materials: 711 consecutive peripheral vascular surgery patients from 11 hospitals in the Netherlands between May and December 2004., Methods: Patients were evaluated for cardiac risk factors, beta-blocker use and 1-year mortality. Low and high risk was defined according to the Revised Cardiac Risk Index. Propensity scores for the likelihood of beta-blocker use were calculated and regression models were used to study the relation between beta-blocker use and mortality., Results: 285 patients (40%) received beta-blockers throughout the perioperative period (continuous users). Only 52% of the 281 high risk patients received continuous beta-blocker therapy. Beta-blocker therapy was started in 29 and stopped in 21 patients, respectively. One-year mortality was 11%. After adjustment for potential confounders and the propensity of its use, continuous beta-blocker use remained significantly associated with a lower 1-year mortality compared to non-users (HR=0.4; 95%CI=0.2-0.7). In contrast, beta-blocker withdrawal was associated with an increased risk of 1-year mortality compared to non-users (HR=2.7; 95%CI=1.2-5.9)., Conclusions: We demonstrated an under-use of beta-blockers in vascular surgery patients, even in high-risk patients. Perioperative beta-blocker use was independently associated with a lower risk of 1-year mortality compared to non-use, while perioperative withdrawal of beta-blocker therapy was associated with a higher 1-year mortality.

Objectives: To study whether beta-blockers reduce in-hospital and long-term mortality in patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) undergoing major vascular surgery., Design: Observational cohort study., Materials: Five hundred and eleven patients with severe LVD (ejection fraction<30%) undergoing major non-cardiac vascular surgery., Methods: In all patients, cardiac risk factors, medication (including beta-blockers), and dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) results were noted prior to surgery. DSE was evaluated for rest and stress-induced new wall motion abnormalities. Endpoint was in-hospital and long-term mortality. Propensity scores for beta-blockers were calculated and regression models were used to analyse the relation between beta-blockers and mortality., Results: Mean age was 64+/-11 years and 383 patients (75%) were male. 139 patients (27%) used beta-blockers. Stress-induced ischemia occurred in 82 patients (16%). Median follow-up was 7 years (interquartile range: 3-10). In-hospital and long-term mortality was observed in 64 (13%) and 171 (33%) patients, respectively. After adjusting for clinical variables, DSE results and propensity scores, beta-blockers were significantly associated with reduced in-hospital and long-term mortality (OR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.04-0.74 and HR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.22-0.65, respectively)., Conclusion: In patients with severe LVD undergoing major vascular surgery, the use of beta-blockers is associated with a reduced incidence of in-hospital and long-term postoperative mortality.