Frailty Among Non-Elderly Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.

Background: Usually viewed as a characteristic of old age, frailty may also occur in non-elderly people, primarily in those suffering from chronic disease. Frailty may increase operative risk.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of frailty patients undergoing coronary artery bypass (CABG) and/or heart valve replacement or reconstruction and/or heart valve surgery, as well as the influence of frailty on postoperative outcomes.

The Left Atrial Appendage Revised.

Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation is associated with a 4- to 5-fold strokes increase and may be responsible for 15% to 20% of all strokes in the elderly. In this scenario, the left atrial appendage thrombus would be the associated with 90% of cases. The use of anticoagulants, percutaneous devices, and the left atrial appendage surgical exclusion is still an open discussion.