Belinda Young

Association between cardiac and noncardiac complications in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery: outcomes and effects on length of stay

PURPOSE To determine the relation between cardiac and noncardiac complications and their effects on length of stay in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. METHODS We collected detailed information from the history, physical examination, and preoperative tests of 3970 patients aged > or =50 years who were undergoing major noncardiac procedures. Serial electrocardiograms and cardiac enzyme measurements were performed perioperatively, and cardiac and noncardiac complications were recorded prospectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between cardiac and noncardiac complications, and linear regression was used to assess their effects on length of stay. RESULTS Cardiac complications occurred in 84 patients (2%), and noncardiac complications developed in 510 patients (13%). Both types of complications occurred in 40 patients (1%). The most common cardiac complications were pulmonary edema (n = 42) and myocardial infarction (n = 41). The most common noncardiac complications were wound infection (n = 291), confusion (n = 87), respiratory failure requiring intubation (n = 62), deep venous thrombosis (n = 48), and bacterial pneumonia (n = 46). Patients with cardiac complications were more likely to suffer a noncardiac complication than were those without cardiac complications, even after adjustment for preoperative clinical factors (odds ratio = 6.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.9 to 10.6). Mean length of stay was markedly increased in patients who experienced cardiac (11 days; 95% CI: 9 to 12 days) or noncardiac (11 days; 95% CI: 10 to 12 days) complications, or both (15 days; 95% CI: 12 to 18 days), as compared with patients without complications (4 days; 95% CI: 3 to 4 days), even after adjustment for procedure type and clinical factors. CONCLUSION Cardiac and noncardiac complications were strongly linked in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. Patients who experienced one type of complication were at increased risk of developing the other type of complication as well as prolonged perioperative length of stay.

The Severity of Secondary Hyperparathyroidism in Chronic Renal Insufficiency is GFR-Dependent, Race-Dependent, and Associated with Cardiovascular Disease

Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) is an important complication of end-stage renal disease. However, SHPT begins during earlier stages of chronic renal insufficiency (CRI), and little is known about risk factors for SHPT in this population. This study evaluated 218 patients in an ethnically diverse ambulatory nephrology practice at the University of California San Francisco during calendar years 1999 and 2000. Demographic data, comorbid diseases, medications, and laboratory parameters were collected, and independent correlates of intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) were identified by using multiple linear regression. The mean estimated GFR was 34 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) (10%-90% range, 13 to 61 ml/min per 1.73 m(2)); PTH was inversely related to GFR (P < 0.0001). The adjusted mean PTH was higher among African Americans and lower among Asian/Pacific Islanders compared with white patients (233 versus 95 versus 139 pg/ml; P < 0.0001). Moreover, among the 196 patients with GFR <60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2), the slope of GFR versus PTH was significantly steeper among African Americans than among white patients (10.6 versus 3.9 pg/ml per ml per min per 1.73 m(2); P = 0.01). After adjusting for age and diabetes, PTH was associated with a history of myocardial infarction (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.3 per unit natural log PTH) and congestive heart failure (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.3 to 2.9 per unit natural log PTH) and not associated with other co-morbid conditions. These factors should be considered when screening and managing SHPT in CRI.

Suicide in the United States End-Stage Renal Disease Program

Although depression and dialysis withdrawal are relatively common among individuals with ESRD, there have been few systematic studies of suicide in this population. The goals of this study were to compare the incidence of suicide with national rates and to contrast the factors associated with suicide with those associated with withdrawal in persons with ESRD. All individuals who were aged 15 yr and older and initiated dialysis between April 1, 1995, and November 30, 2000, composed the analytic cohort. Patients were censored at the time of death, transplantation, or October 31, 2001. Death as a result of suicide in the ESRD population and the general US population was ascertained from the Death Notification Form and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, respectively. Standardized incidence ratios for suicide among patient subgroups were computed using national data from the year 2000 as the reference population. The crude suicide rate from 1995 to 2001 was 24.2 suicides per 100,000 patient-years, and the overall standardized incidence ratio for suicide was 1.84 (95% confidence interval, 1.50 to 2.27). In multivariable models, age > or =75 yr, male gender, white or Asian race, geographic region, alcohol or drug dependence, and recent hospitalization with mental illness were significant independent predictors of death as a result of suicide. Persons with ESRD are significantly more likely to commit suicide than persons in the general population. Although relatively rare, risk assessment can be used to identify patients for whom counseling and other interventions might be beneficial.

The decline in residual renal function in hemodialysis is slow and age dependent.

Background: Persons on peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis with preserved residual renal function experience lower mortality rates than those without. Previous studies have shown slower rates of decline of residual renal function for peritoneal dialysis (PD)(2 to 3% decrease/month), compared with hemodialysis (HD)(6 to 7% decrease/month). However, our clinical observations suggested a lower rate of decline in hemodialysis patients.