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Mediastinitis is a serious complication of open-heart surgery, with an incidence that varies from 0.4 to 5%, mortality from 10 to 47% and a high morbidity rate. Objectives: to identify the preoperative and trans-operative risk factors of mediastinitis after open-heart surgery in our hospital. Methods: This was a prospective study of 1298 patients submitted to the open-heart surgery in São Lucas hospital in the period from March 1997 to May 2000. Nine potential risk factors associated with mediastinitis were studied (obesity, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the use of internal mammary artery grafts, cardiopulmonary GUARAGNA, JC ET AL-Predictors of mediastinitis after cardiac surgery

Implantable cardiac pacing systems are a safe and effective treatment for symptomatic irreversible bradycardia. Under the proper indications, cardiac pacing might bring significant clinical benefit. Evidences from literature state that the action of the artificial pacing system, mainly when the ventricular lead is located at the apex of the right ventricle, produces negative effects to cardiac structure (remodeling, dilatation) and function (dissinchrony). Patients with previously compromised left ventricular function would benefit the least with conventional right ventricle apical pacing, and are exposed to the risk of developing higher incidence of morbidity and mortality for heart failure. However, after almost 6 decades of cardiac pacing, just a reduced portion of patients in general would develop these alterations. In this context, there are not completely clear some issues related to cardiac pacing and the development of this cardiomyopathy. Causality relationships among QRS widening with a left bundle branch block morphology, contractility alterations within the left ventricle, and certain substrates or clinical (previous systolic dysfunction, structural heart disease, time from implant) or electrical conditions (QRS duration, percentage of ventricular stimulation) are still subjecte of debate. This review analyses contemporary data regarding this new entity, and discusses alternatives of how to use cardiac pacing in this context, emphasizing cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Background: To establish a risk score for heart surgery allows the assessment of preoperative risk, informing the patient and defining care during the intervention.