ABSTRACT
Data from 736 patients undergoing prosthetic heart valve replacement surgery and concomitant surgery (combined surgery) from January 1998 to January 2004 at Union Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Univariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify risk factors For prolonged mechanical ventilation. The results showed that prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass duration, prolonged aortic cross clamp time and low ejection fraction less than 50 percent (50%) were found to be independent predictors for prolonged mechanical ventilation. Meanwhile age, weight, and preoperative hospital stay (days) were not found to be associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation. It was concluded that, for age and weight, this might be due to the lower number of old age patients (70 years and above) included in our study and genetic body structure of majority Chinese population that favor them to be in normal weight, respectively.