The Benefits and Pitfalls of the Use of Risk Stratification Tools in Cardiac Surgery

Akshat Saxena; Vikrant Dhurandhar; Paul G Bannon; Andrew E Newcomb

doi:10.1016/j.hlc.2015.12.094

The Benefits and Pitfalls of the Use of Risk Stratification Tools in Cardiac Surgery

Heart Lung Circ. 2016 Apr;25(4):314-8. doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2015.12.094. Epub 2016 Jan 28.

Authors

Akshat Saxena¹, Vikrant Dhurandhar², Paul G Bannon², Andrew E Newcomb³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Discipline of Surgery, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
² Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Discipline of Surgery, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Baird Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia. Electronic address: andrew.newcomb@svha.org.au.

PMID: 26857968
DOI: 10.1016/j.hlc.2015.12.094

Abstract

Risk assessment tools are increasingly used in surgery. In cardiac surgery, risk models are used for patient counselling, surgical decision-making, performance benchmarking, clinical research, evaluation of new therapies and quality assurance, among others. However, they have numerous disadvantages which need to be considered. This article evaluates the utility of risk assessment tools in cardiac surgery including a discussion of their advantages and disadvantages.

Keywords: AusScore; Cardiac surgery; EuroScore; Mortality; Risk stratification.

Copyright © 2016 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Publication types

Editorial

MeSH terms

Cardiac Surgical Procedures / adverse effects*
Cardiac Surgical Procedures / methods*
Humans
Risk Assessment