Chapter 76: Medical Management of the Patient Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

David H. Adams, Farzan Filsoufi, Elliott M. Antman
Pages 1993-2020

Excerpt:
“Continued advances in cardiac surgery make operative repair of a variety of cardiac lesions a viable therapeutic alternative for numerous patients with cardiovascular disease. ... However, the profile of patients referred for surgery has also changed and includes more patients with advanced age, depressed left ventricular function, multiple comorbidities, prior revascularization operations or multiple percutaneous interventions, and failed acute interventional procedures, which has led to higher mortality rates in tertiary care referral centers that are called on to operate on such patients with greater frequency.

This chapter summarizes the information required by the cardiologist, whose important responsibilities include collaboration with the surgical team for both preoperative and postoperative care, especially care of the medical complications that may develop.”