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Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is prevalent in patients with aortic stenosis (AS); however, previous studies have demonstrated inconsistent results regarding the association of PH with adverse outcomes after aortic valve replacement (AVR). The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of preoperative PH on outcomes after AVR. We performed a regional prospective cohort study using the Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group database to identify 1,116 consecutive patients from 2005 to 2010 who underwent AVR ± coronary artery bypass grafting for severe AS with a preoperative assessment of pulmonary pressures by right-sided cardiac catheterization. PH was defined as a mean pulmonary artery pressure of ≥25 mm Hg, with severity based on the pulmonary artery systolic pressure-mild, 35 to 44 mm Hg; moderate, 45 to 59 mm Hg; and severe, ≥60 mm Hg. We found that PH was present in 536 patients (48%). Postoperative acute kidney injury, low-output heart failure, and in-hospital mortality increased with worsening severity of PH. In multivariate logistic regression, severe PH was independently associated with postoperative acute kidney injury (adjusted odds ratio 4.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7 to 10, p = 0.002) and in-hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio 6.9, 95% CI 2.5 to 19.1, p <0.001). There was a significant association between PH and decreased 5-year survival (adjusted log-rank p value = 0.006), with severe PH being associated with the poorest survival (adjusted hazard ratio 2.4, 95% CI 1.3 to 4.2, p = 0.003). In conclusion, severe PH in patients with severe AS is associated with increased rates of in-hospital adverse events and decreased 5-year survival after AVR., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: We previously reported that transfusion of 1 to 2 units of red blood cells (RBCs) confers a 16% increased hazard of late death after cardiac surgical treatment. We explored whether a similar effect existed among octogenarians., Methods: We enrolled 17,026 consecutive adult patients undergoing cardiac operations from 2001 to 2008 in northern New England. Patients receiving more than 2 units of RBCs or undergoing emergency operations were excluded. Early (to 6 months) and late (to 3 years, among those surviving longer than 6 months) survival was confirmed using the Social Security Death Index. We estimated the relationship between RBCs and survival, and any interaction by age (<80 years versus ≥80 years) or procedure. We calculated the adjusted hazard ratio (HR), and plotted adjusted survival curves., Results: Patients receiving RBCs had more comorbidities irrespective of age. Patients 80 years of age or older underwent transfusion more often than patients younger than 80 years (51% versus 30%; p<0.001). There was no evidence of an interaction by age or procedure (p>0.05). Among patients younger than 80 years, RBCs significantly increased a patient's risk of early death [HR, 2.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.47, 2.80] but not late death 1.21 (95%CI, 0.88, 1.67). RBCs did not increase the risk of early [HR, 1.47; 95% CI, 0.84, 2.56] or late (HR, 0.92 95% CI, 0.50, 1.69) death in patients 80 years or older., Conclusions: Octogenarians receive RBCs more often than do younger patients. Although transfusion of 1 to 2 units of RBCs increases the risk of early death in patients younger than 80 years, this effect was not present among octogenarians. There was no significant effect of RBCs in late death in either age group., (Copyright © 2012 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Postoperative low-output failure (LOF) is an important contributor to morbidity and mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. We sought to understand which pre- and intra-operative factors contribute to postoperative LOF and to what degree the surgeon may influence rates of LOF., Methods and Results: We identified 11 838 patients undergoing nonemergent, isolated coronary artery bypass grafting surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass by 32 surgeons at 8 centers in northern New England from 2001 to 2009. Our cohort included patients with preoperative ejection fractions >40%. Patients with preoperative intraaortic balloon pumps were excluded. LOF was defined as the need for ≥2 inotropes at 48 hours, an intra- or post-operative intraaortic balloon pumps, or return to cardiopulmonary bypass (for hemodynamic reasons). Case volume varied across the 32 surgeons (limits, 80-766; median, 344). The overall rate of LOF was 4.3% (return to cardiopulmonary bypass, 2.6%; intraaortic balloon pumps, 1.0%; inotrope usage, 0.8%; combination, 1.0%). The predicted risk of LOF did not differ across surgeons, P=0.79, and the observed rates varied from 1.1% to 10.2%, P<0.001. Patients operated by low-rate surgeons had shorter clamp and bypass times, antegrade cardioplegia, longer maximum intervals between cardioplegia doses, lower cardioplegia volume per anastomosis or minute of ischemic time, and less hot-shot use. Patients operated on by higher LOF surgeons had higher rates of postoperative acute kidney injury., Conclusions: Rates of LOF significantly varied across surgeons and could not be explained solely by patient case mix, suggesting that variability in perioperative practices influences risk of LOF.

Background: We examined a recent regional experience to determine the effect of a prior cardiac operation on short-term and midterm outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)., Methods: We identified 20,703 patients who underwent nonemergent CABG at 8 centers in northern New England from 2000 to 2008, of whom 818 (3.8%) had undergone prior cardiac operations. Prior CABG using a minimal or full sternotomy was considered a prior sternotomy. Survival data out to 4 years were obtained from a link with the Social Security Administration Death Index. Hazard ratios were estimated using a Cox proportional hazards regression model, and adjusted survival curves were estimated using inverse probability weighting. In a separate analysis, 1,182 patients were matched 1:1 by a patient's propensity for having undergone prior CABG., Results: Patients with prior sternotomies had a greater burden of comorbid diseases and increased acuity and had a greater likelihood of returning to the operating room for bleeding and low cardiac output failure. Prior sternotomy was associated with an increased risk of death out to 4 years for patients undergoing CABG, with an unmatched hazard ratio of 1.34 (95% confidence interval, 1.10 to 1.64) and a matched hazard ratio of 1.36 (95% confidence interval, 1.01 to 1.81)., Conclusions: Analyses of our recent regional experience with nonemergent CABG showed that a prior cardiac operation was associated with a nearly twofold increased hazard of death at up to 4 years of follow-up., (Copyright © 2011 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cardiac surgery-related acute kidney injury has short- and long-term impact on patients' risk for further morbidity and mortality. Consensus statements have yielded criteria--such as the risk, injury, failure, loss, and end-stage kidney disease (RIFLE) criteria, and the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria--to define the type and consequence of acute kidney injury. We sought to estimate the ability of both the RIFLE and and AKIN criteria to predict the risk of in-hospital mortality in the setting of cardiac surgery., Methods: Data were collected on 25,086 patients undergoing cardiac surgery in Northern New England from January 2001 to December 2007, excluding 339 patients on preoperative dialysis. The AKIN and RIFLE criteria were used to classify patients postoperatively, using the last preoperative and the highest postoperative serum creatinine. We compared the diagnostic properties of both criteria, and calculated the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve., Results: Acute kidney injury occurred in 30% of patients using the AKIN criteria and in 31% of patients using the RIFLE criteria. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for in-hospital mortality estimated by AKIN and RIFLE criteria were 0.79 (95% confidence interval: 0.77 to 0.80) and 0.78 (95% confidence interval: 0.76 to 0.80), respectively (p = 0.369)., Conclusions: The AKIN and RIFLE criteria are accurate early predictors of mortality. The high incidence of cardiac surgery postoperative acute kidney injury should prompt the use of either AKIN or RIFLE criteria to identify patients at risk and to stimulate institutional measures that target acute kidney injury as a quality improvement initiative., (Copyright © 2010 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The current risk prediction models for mortality following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery have been developed on patient and disease characteristics alone. Improvements to these models potentially may be made through the analysis of biomarkers of unmeasured risk. We hypothesize that preoperative biomarkers reflecting myocardial damage, inflammation, and metabolic dysfunction are associated with an increased risk of mortality following CABG surgery and the use of biomarkers associated with these injuries will improve the Northern New England (NNE) CABG mortality risk prediction model. We prospectively followed 1731 isolated CABG patients with preoperative blood collection at eight medical centers in Northern New England for a nested case-control study from 2003-2007. Preoperative blood samples were drawn at the center and then stored at a central facility. Frozen serum was analyzed at a central laboratory on an Elecsys 2010, at the same time for Cardiac Troponin T, N-Terminal pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide, high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein, and blood glucose. We compared the strength of the prediction model for mortality using multivariable logistic regression, goodness of fit and tested the equality of the receiving operating characteristic curve (ROC) area. There were 33 cases (dead at discharge) and 66 randomly matched controls (alive at discharge).The ROC for the preoperative mortality model was improved from .83 (95% confidence interval: .74-.92) to .87 (95% confidence interval: .80-.94) with biomarkers (p-value for equality of ROC areas .09). The addition of biomarkers to the NNE preoperative risk prediction model did not significantly improve the prediction of mortality over patient and disease characteristics alone. The added measurement of multiple biomarkers outside of preoperative risk factors may be an unnecessary use of health care resources with little added benefit for predicting in-hospital mortality.