Partial elimination of routine CXRs in the first 24 hours after cardiac surgery seems possible for the majority of patients, but it is limited by the insensitivity of clinical assessment in predicting clinically important abnormalities detectable by CXRs.
SummaryWe prospectively estimated the prevalence of heart murmurs in 2522 consecutive adult noncardiac surgery patients during pre-operative evaluation. Factors that contribute to the detection of a heart murmur were identified, and echocardiography was used to evaluate to what extent a murmur reflected presence of valvular heart disease. A cardiac murmur was detected in 106 patients (prevalence 4.2%, 95% CI: 3.5-5.1%). Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that age and general physical impression were independently associated with detecting a murmur (p-values < 0.01). In 83 (79%) of the patients with a murmur, an echocardiographic diagnosis was available: 39% had aortic valve abnormalities, 24% had mitral valve regurgitation, 7% had other valvular heart disease and 30% did not have any abnormality. Thus, 58 of the 83 patients had valvular heart disease (positive predictive value using routine cardiac auscultation for diagnosing VHD: 70%, 95% CI: 59-79%). Murmurs in patients younger than 40 years never reflected valvular heart disease. Pre-operative cardiac auscultation seems only reasonable in patients aged 40 years or older. Subsequent echocardiography in these selected patients is necessary.
BackgroundICU patients frequently undergo chest radiographs (CXRs). The diagnostic and therapeutic efficacy of routine CXRs are now known to be low, but the discussion regarding specific indications for CXRs in critically ill patients and the safety of abandoning routine CXRs is still ongoing. We performed a survey of Dutch intensivists on the current practice of chest radiography in their departments.MethodsWeb-based questionnaires, containing questions regarding ICU characteristics, ICU patients, daily CXR strategies, indications for routine CXRs and the practice of radiologic evaluation, were sent to the medical directors of all adult ICUs in the Netherlands. CXR strategies were compared between all academic and non-academic hospitals and between ICUs of different sizes. A comparison was made between the survey results obtained in 2006 and 2013.ResultsOf the 83 ICUs that were contacted, 69 (83%) responded to the survey. Only 7% of responding ICUs were currently performing daily routine CXRs for all patients, and 61% of the responding ICUs were said never to perform CXRs on a routine basis. A daily meeting with a radiologist is an established practice in 72% of the responding ICUs and is judged to be important or even essential by those ICUs. The therapeutic efficacy of routine CXRs was assumed by intensivists to be lower than 10% or to be between 10 and 20%. The efficacy of ‘on-demand’ CXRs was assumed to be between 10 and 60%. There is a consensus between intensivists to perform a routine CXR after endotracheal intubation, chest tube placement or central venous catheterization.ConclusionThe strategy of daily routine CXRs for critically ill and mechanically ventilated patients has turned from being a common practice in 2006 to a rare current practice. Other routine strategies and an ‘on-demand only’ strategy have become more popular. Intensivists still assume the value of CXRs to be higher than the efficacy that is reported in the literature.
Defining clear indications for selective CXRs after cardiac surgery is effective and seems to be safe. This approach may significantly reduce the total number of CXRs performed, and will increase their efficacy.
BackgroundChest radiographs (CXRs) are obtained frequently in postoperative cardiac surgery patients. The diagnostic and therapeutic efficacy of routine CXRs is known to be low and the discussion regarding the safety of abandoning these CXRs after cardiac surgery is still ongoing. We investigated the value of routine CXRs directly after minimally invasive cardiac surgery.MethodsWe prospectively included all patients who underwent minimally invasive cardiac surgery by port access, ministernotomy or bilateral video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) in the year 2012. A direct postoperative CXR was performed on all patients at ICU arrival. All CXR findings were noted, including whether they led to an intervention or not. The results were compared to the postoperative CXR results in patients who underwent conventional cardiac surgery by full median sternotomy over the same period.Main resultsA total of 249 consecutive patients were included. Most of these patients underwent valve surgery, rhythm surgery or a combination of both. The diagnostic efficacy for minor findings was highest in the port access and bilateral VATS groups (56% and 63% versus 28% and 45%) (p < 0.005). The diagnostic efficacy for major findings was also higher in these groups (8.9% and 11% versus 4.3% and 3.8%) (p = 0.010). The need for an intervention was most common after minimally invasive surgery by port access, although this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.056).ConclusionsThe diagnostic efficacy of routine CXRs performed after minimally invasive cardiac surgery by port access or bilateral VATS is higher than the efficacy of CXRs performed after conventional cardiac surgery. A routine CXR after these procedures should still be considered.
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