Isolated gonococcal ascending aorta aneurysm.

We present a very rare case of an acute septic infection and vegetative mycotic aneurysm caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae in a 52-year old male. The aortic valve was bicuspid and calcified. He was successfully treated by the resection of the ascending aorta and the aortic valve with a replacement by separate prostheses, followed by 2 weeks of intravenous antibiotic therapy. The patient was followed up 18 months postoperatively with no signs of reinfection.

Emergency and elective coronary artery bypass grafting: comparisons of risk profiles, postoperative outcomes, and resource requirements.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between preoperative risk factors and postoperative outcomes in emergency and elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients and to quantify resource requirements. DESIGN: Retrospective database review. SETTING: New York State SPARCS database. PARTICIPANTS: Data from 4,001 emergency and 7,489 elective CABG patients were evaluated retrospectively. INTERVENTIONS: Data were compared between groups using chi-squares, t tests, and logistic regression analysis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Preoperatively, 47.1% of patients in the emergency group had unstable angina and 34.1% had acute myocardial infarction compared with 33.9% and 15.2% in the elective group, respectively (p < 0.0001). There were no marked differences in the preoperative noncardiac risk factors between groups. The mortality rate was 4.7% in the emergency group and 2.6% in the elective group (p < 0.0001). The emergency group had more postoperative cardiac complications (18.3% v 8.3%, p < 0.0001). The length of hospital stay in the emergency group was 17.5 +/- 15.8 days (median 14 days) compared with 12.9 +/- 15.1 days (median 9 days) in the elective group (p < 0.00001). Total hospital charges in the emergency and elective groups were 46,700 US dollars +/- 42,400 US dollars (median 35,600 US dollars ) and 34,800 US dollars +/- 36,400 US dollars (median 26,500 US dollars) (p < 0.00001), respectively. The median total cost was 26,300 US dollars for emergency and 19,600 US dollars for elective group (p < 0.00001). CONCLUSION: Patients undergoing emergency CABG had greater postoperative morbidity and mortality, longer LOS, and higher total costs than patients undergoing elective surgery. This difference is predictable on the basis of preoperative cardiac risk factors. Emergency operations have a major impact on the rates of morbidity, mortality, and use of resources.

Validation of a preoperative risk index as a predictor of perioperative morbidity and hospital costs in coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To validate a previously developed model (CABDEAL) for predicting postoperative morbidity for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery patients using the New York State Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) database and to examine the effects of preoperative risk factors, postoperative complications, and death on costs of care for CABG surgery. DESIGN: Retrospective database review. SETTING: Governmental agency database of cardiac surgery. PARTICIPANTS: CABG surgery patients (n = 15,388). INTERVENTIONS: A previously developed preoperative risk model (CABDEAL) was applied to all patients. Predicted length of hospital stay and costs were compared with actual length of stay and costs, using a charge-to-cost conversion formula. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The CABDEAL model was moderately predictive of outcomes. The specificity was 64%, the sensitivity was 73.8%, and the receiver operating characteristic curve area was 0.728. Morbidity in the form of postoperative complications was recorded in 24.5% (3,770 patients), and the mortality rate was 3.4% (527 patients). The mean (+/- SD) total hospital cost was 28,408 US dollars +/-28,982, and the median cost was 21,644 US dollars. Based on the linear regression model, an equation was developed for predicting total costs: Cost (in US dollars) = 22,952 + (3,277. [CABDEAL score]). CONCLUSION: The previously developed CABDEAL model was predictive of increased morbidity in the SPARCS database. Total hospital costs increased nearly linearly with increasing CABDEAL score. These results encourage the development of models for preoperative estimation of costs related to perioperative morbidity.

Performance of three preoperative risk indices; CABDEAL, EuroSCORE and Cleveland models in a prospective coronary bypass database.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of three different preoperative risk models in the prediction of postoperative morbidity and mortality in coronary artery bypass (CAB) surgery. METHODS: Data on 1132 consecutive CAB patients were prospectively collected, including preoperative risk factors and postoperative morbidity and in-hospital mortality. The preoperative risk models CABDEAL, EuroSCORE and Cleveland model were used to predict morbidity and mortality. A C statistic (receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve) was used to test the discrimination of these models. RESULTS: The area under the ROC curve for morbidity was 0.772 for the CABDEAL, 0.694 for the EuroSCORE and 0.686 for the Cleveland model. Major morbidity due to postoperative complications occurred in 268 patients (23.6%). The mortality rate was 3.4% (n=38 patients). The ROC curve areas for prediction of mortality were 0.711 for the CABDEAL, 0.826 for the EuroSCORE and 0.858 for the Cleveland model. CONCLUSIONS: The CABDEAL model was initially developed for the prediction of major morbidity. Thus, it is not surprising that this model evinced the highest predictive value for increased morbidity in this database. Both the Cleveland and the EuroSCORE models were better predictive of mortality. These results have implications for the selection of risk indices for different purposes. The simple additive CABDEAL model can be used as a hand-held model for preoperative estimation of patients' risk of postoperative morbidity, while the EuroSCORE and Cleveland models are to be preferred for the prediction of mortality in a large patient sample.

Prediction of outcome in cardiac surgery.

There has been growing interest in defining and measuring outcomes for cardiac surgical patients. Outcomes measures have been used in many hospitals as tools for measuring the quality of care, although it is difficult to infer from them how care might be improved. Traditionally, the major outcome endpoints used in cardiac surgery have been the 30-day mortality and morbidity rates. Recently, more innovative intermediate outcomes, including health-related quality of life, functional status, and patient satisfaction 6 months to one year after surgery, have received more attention. A significant proportion of the variance in health care outcomes is affected by patient-related risk factors. By using outcome prediction tools and making conclusions based on preoperative risk factor information, surgeons and anesthesiologists are able to make better decisions about treatment strategies. Additionally, operating room and intensive care unit personnel can use these data to schedule cases and allocate resources more efficiently. These data are also very important for hospital administrators and insurance providers.