Surgical patients with heart disease: summary of the ACC/AHA guidelines. American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association

Abstract

The evaluation and management of heart disease in patients about to undergo noncardiac surgery begins with a careful history and physical examination, including an assessment of clinical risk for perioperative myocardial infarction and/or death. Patients can be categorized into major, intermediate, minor or low clinical risk groups, based on clinical markers such as past myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, angina or diabetes. Additional evaluation includes estimation of surgery-specific risk, prior coronary evaluation and/or revascularization, and level of functional capacity. Based on these parameters, physicians can decide to engage in further noninvasive testing to assess left ventricular function and/or risk of perioperative ischemia in a small, selected group of patients. Rarely, patients may meet criteria for perioperative coronary revascularization followed by noncardiac surgery. Perioperative medical therapy relies heavily on the use of beta blockers. Postoperative cardiac surveillance must be tailored to the individual patient. The use of pulmonary arterial catheters, the type of anesthesia and the assessment of long-term cardiac risk are also discussed in this summary of the ACC/AHA Guidelines.