CardioExchange Archive

August 1st, 2014

Noncardiac Surgery Guidelines Updated

Larry Husten, PHD

The reliability of current guidelines regarding perioperative evaluation and treatment of people undergoing noncardiac surgery has been seriously questioned because of a scandal discrediting Don Poldermans, a Dutch researcher widely published in the field. To address the current uncertainty, U.S. and European medical societies today released updated versions of these guidelines. The European guideline can be […]

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April 24th, 2014

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: April 24th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include trials of aspirin and clonidine in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, changes in diabetes-related complications in the U.S., and more.

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April 23rd, 2013

Study Suggests Benefit for Beta Blockers During Noncardiac Surgery

Larry Husten, PHD

The use of perioperative beta-blockade for noncardiac surgery has been declining as a result of the controversial POISE study, which turned up evidence for harm associated with extended-release metoprolol in this setting. Now a large new observational study published in JAMA offers a contrary perspective by suggesting that perioperative beta-blockade may be beneficial in low- […]

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June 5th, 2012

Troponin T Test Helps Assess Mortality Risk Following Noncardiac Surgery

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study in JAMA finds that postoperative troponin T (TnT) tests can independently improve 30-day-mortality risk assessment among patients who have undergone noncardiac surgery. The VISION (Vascular Events in Noncardiac Surgery Patients Cohort Evaluation) study investigators evaluated the prognostic power of postoperative fourth-generation TnT testing in 15,133 patients. Overall mortality at 30 days was 1.9%. Some 11.6% of patients […]

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