Association between heart failure and perioperative outcomes in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1-25-2021

Journal

European heart journal. Quality of care & clinical outcomes

Volume

7

Issue

1

DOI

10.1093/ehjqcco/qcz066

Keywords

Heart failure; Mortality; Outcomes; Perioperative; Surgery

Abstract

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author(s) 2020. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com. AIMS: Heart failure (HF) affects ∼5.7 million US adults and many of these patients develop non-cardiac disease that requires surgery. The aim of this study was to determine perioperative outcomes associated with HF in a large cohort of patients undergoing in-hospital non-cardiac surgery. METHODS AND RESULTS: Adults ≥18 years old undergoing non-cardiac surgery between 2012 and 2014 were identified using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Inpatient Sample. Patients with HF were identified by ICD-9 diagnosis codes. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate associations between HF and outcomes. A total of 21 560 996 surgical hospitalizations were identified, of which 1 063 405 (4.9%) had a diagnosis of HF. Among hospitalizations with HF, 4.7% had acute HF, 11.3% had acute on chronic HF, 27.8% had chronic HF, and 56.2% had an indeterminate diagnosis code that did not specify temporality. In-hospital perioperative mortality was more common among patients with any diagnosis of HF compared to those without HF [4.8% vs. 0.78%, P < 0.001; adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.09-2.22], and the association between HF and mortality was greatest at small and non-teaching hospitals. Acute HF without chronic HF was associated with 8.0% mortality. Among patients with a chronic HF diagnosis, perioperative mortality was greater in those with acute on chronic HF compared to chronic HF alone (7.8% vs. 3.9%, P < 0.001; aOR 1.78, 95% CI 1.67-1.90). CONCLUSION: In patients hospitalized for non-cardiac surgery, HF was common and was associated with increased risk of perioperative mortality. The greatest risks were in patients with acute HF.

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