Neurological outcome and efficacy of
intensive craniocervical screening for elective cardiac surgery.
Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg 2019;
26:216-223. [PMID:
29049799 DOI:
10.1093/icvts/ivx307]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2017] [Accepted: 08/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the efficacy of intensive craniocervical screening before elective cardiovascular surgery.
METHODS
A retrospective analysis of 1134 consecutive patients who underwent routine screening before cardiovascular surgery between November 2004 and December 2014 was conducted. The study was divided into 2 distinct cohorts of patients undergoing surgery: before (n = 500) and after (n = 634) the introduction of intensive screening in January 2009. In 2009, preoperative screening underwent a transition from the evaluation of carotid atherosclerosis alone to that of craniocervical atherosclerosis. Additionally, patients with moderate or greater stenosis on intensive screening underwent single-photon emission computed tomography with acetazolamide. Craniocervical atherosclerosis was classified as no or mild [0-49%: n = 836 (before/after: 370/466)], moderate [50-69%: n = 118 (56/62)] or severe [70-100%: n = 141 (36/105)]. One of 166 (0.6%) patients with moderate or greater stenosis undergoing single-photon emission computed tomography with acetazolamide after the introduction of intensive screening was diagnosed as having impaired cerebral autoregulation.
RESULTS
The occurrences of perioperative stroke were 2.8% before the introduction of intensive screening and 0.9% after that (P = 0.033). Notably, intraoperative stroke significantly decreased from 1.4% to 0.2% (P = 0.034). Specifically, the occurrence of perioperative stroke in patients with no or mild stenosis decreased significantly after the introduction of intensive screening, from 2.7% to 0.4% (P = 0.007).
CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of perioperative stroke decreased following the introduction of intensive screening. Intensive screening may be able to detect patients with a greater risk of perioperative stroke.
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