Development of the Cardiac Surgery Patient Expectations Questionnaire (C-SPEQ).

Purpose: Some variability in recovery and outcomes after cardiac surgery may be influenced by psychosocial aspects not routinely captured. Preliminary evidence suggests patient expectations impact health status, but there is no specific measure of expectations for cardiac surgery. The purpose of this study was to adapt an expectations scale to cardiac surgery and assess the psychometric properties of the scale.

The Effects of Frailty in Patients Undergoing Elective Cardiac Surgery.

Background: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) recommends using gait speed as a marker of frailty to identify cardiac surgery patients at risk for adverse outcomes. However, a single marker of frailty may not provide consistently reliable risk information. We evaluated the impact of frailty and gait speed on patient outcomes after elective cardiac surgery.

Amiodarone after surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation: Is it really necessary? A prospective randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Prophylactic antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) treatment is a well-established practice after catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF), but it is controversial after surgical ablation. This prospective randomized controlled trial examined whether amiodarone after surgical ablation reduced atrial arrhythmia recurrence within the first 3 months after surgery.

Methods: Ninety patients were randomized to receive (n = 45) or not receive (n = 45) amiodarone after surgical ablation.