Terrence A. O’Malley

To determine which preoperative factors might affect the development of cardiac complications after major noncardiac operations, we prospectively studied 1001 patients over 40 years of age. By multivariate discriminant analysis, we identified nine independent significant correlates of life-threatening and fatal cardiac complications: preoperative third heart sound or jugular venous distention; myocardial infarction in the preceding six months; more than five premature ventricular contractions per minute documented at any time before operation; rhythm other than sinus or presence of premature atrial contractions on preoperative electrocardiogram; age over 70 years; intraperitoneal, intrathoracic or aortic operation; emergency operation; important valvular aortic stenosis; and poor general medical condition. Patients could be separated into four classes of significantly different risk. Ten of the 19 postoperative cardiac fatalities occurred in the 18 patients at highest risk. If validated by prospective application, the multifactorial index may allow preoperative estimation of cardiac risk independent of direct surgical risk.

In an attempt to assess cardiac risk in non-cardiac surgery, 1001 patients over 40 years of age who underwent major operative procedures were examined preoperatively, observed through surgery, studied with at least one postoperative electrocardiogram, and followed until hospital discharge or death. Documented postoperative myocardial infarction occurred in only 18 patients; though most of these patients had some pre-existing heart disease, there were few preoperative factors which were statistically correlated with postoperative infarction. Postoperative pulmonary edema was strongly correlated with preoperative heart failure, but 21 of the 36 patients who developed pulmonary edema did not have any prior history of heart failure. Nearly all of these 21 patients were elderly, had abnormal preoperative electrocardiograms, and had intraabdominal or intrathoracic surgery. In the absence of an acute infarction, bifascicular conduction defects, with or without PR interval prolongation, never progressed to complete heart block. Spinal anesthesia protected against postoperative heart failure but not against other cardiac complication. By multivariate regression analysis, postoperative cardiac death was significantly correlated with (a) myocardial infarction in the previous 6 months; (b) third heart sound or jugular venous distention immediately preoperatively; (c) more than five premature ventricular contractions per minute documented at any time preoperatively; (d) rhythm other than sinus, or premature atrial contractions on preoperative electrocardiogram; (e) age over 70 years; (f) significant valvular aortic stenosis; (g) emergency operation; (h) a 33% or greater fall in systolic blood pressure for more than 10 minutes intraoperatively. Notably unimportant factors included smoking, glucose intolerance, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, peripheral atherosclerotic vascular disease, angina, and distant myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown disparate results in relation to the role of plasma concentrations of cell adhesion molecules in atherosclerosis. Moreover, the differentiation of primary vs secondary alterations of these markers, in response to myocardial injury, has not been clear. We measured specific soluble cell adhesion molecules and inflammatory markers in men admitted acutely with chest pain and compared them to healthy controls. METHODS AND RESULTS: We prospectively studied men (total n=241), admitted acutely with chest pain (7.4+/-9.4 h, 71% within 10 h), unstable angina (n=67), acute myocardial infarction (n=47) and chest pain without ischaemic heart disease (n=45) and compared them with a stratified sample of randomly selected healthy controls (n=82). Soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM-1), endothelial selectin, vascular cell adhesion molecule, interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein were measured by ELISA and P-selectin expression by flow cytometry. Multiple regression analysis was used to control for the impact of classical risk factors. At baseline ICAM-1, interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein were significantly elevated in patient groups whereas no difference in vascular cell adhesion molecule or endothelial selectin was found. At 3 month follow-up, ICAM-1 level was unchanged in ischaemic heart disease patients. In all groups C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 levels were lower at review. ICAM-1 levels at follow-up were higher in ischaemic heart disease groups (but not in chest pain without ischaemic heart disease) relative to controls and remained so only in the unstable angina group following regression. sICAM-1, interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein strongly correlated with smoking. In the acute phase, ICAM-1 was confounded by smoking following regression and C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 remained significant in both ischaemic heart disease groups after multiple regression. There was no relationship to events which occurred in 23% of ischaemic heart disease patients (further acute myocardial infarction 5.3%, sudden cardiac death 0.9% or recurrent angina 16.7%). CONCLUSION: We found an inflammatory response with higher sICAM-1, interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein in patients presenting soon after developing an acute coronary syndrome. As sICAM-1 was not affected by the acute event this plasma marker may be an important risk factor for the development of the acute coronary syndrome, particularly unstable angina.

Unexplained trauma, neglected medical problems, failure to thrive, malnutrition, and misuse of medications may be manifestations of family-mediated abuse and neglect of the non-institutionalized elderly person. Physicians frequently overlook or misdiagnose this form of family violence. Access to these persons, assessment, and intervention are facilitated by focusing on the unmet care needs of the elderly person and by moving to meet those needs. Issues of intervention can be clarified by categorizing abuse or neglect as occurring in situations in which the dependency and care needs of the elderly person are paramount or in which the pathologic behavior of the abuser is most evident. The provision of specific support services or legally mandated separation of the elderly person and the abuser can be attempted but the elderly person's right to refuse any intervention must be recognized.

BACKGROUND: The quality of discharge documentation in patients discharged to rehabilitation centers and other subacute facilities is less well studied than that of patients discharged home. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of information transfer among patients discharged from acute hospitals to subacute facilities across an integrated healthcare delivery system. DESIGN: Retrospective evaluation of discharge documentation packets of selected patients. SETTING: Five acute care hospitals of the Partners Healthcare System. MEASUREMENTS: We measured the presence of specific data elements required to safely care for patients after discharge, including all data elements required by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (TJC). RESULTS: A total of 1501 discharge documentation packets were reviewed from March 2005 through June 2007. Only 1055 (70.3%) discharge summaries had all the information required by TJC, with physical examination at admission and condition at discharge most often missing (in 11.4% and 14.2% of cases, respectively). Other deficiencies not mandated by TJC included a list of preadmission medications (missing in 20.3%) and reasons for changes in these medications at discharge (35.3%), mention of pending test results (47.2%), and postdischarge management and follow-up plans (11.1%). CONCLUSIONS: We found room for improvement in the inclusion of data elements required for the safe transfer of patients from acute hospitals to subacute facilities, especially in areas such as medication reconciliation, pending test results, and adequate follow-up plans.