Health outcomes with and without use of inotropic therapy in cardiac surgery: results of a propensity score-matched analysis.

Background: Inotropes used to obtain short-term hemodynamic benefits in cardiac surgery may carry a risk of increased myocardial ischemia and adverse outcomes. This study investigated the association between intra- and postoperative use of inotropes and mortality and postoperative complications.

Methods: A historic cohort study using prospective data from the Western Denmark Heart Registry on 6,005 consecutive cardiac surgery cases from three university hospitals.

Antiplatelet therapy at the time of coronary artery bypass grafting: a multicentre cohort study.

Objectives: The purpose of this multicentre cohort study was to examine the relationship between antiplatelet therapy (APT) at the time of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and postoperative bleeding complications, transfusion requirements and adverse cardiovascular events.

Methods: A matched-pair analysis was carried out on 6350 consecutive patients undergoing CABG at the three university hospitals in Western Denmark. Patients exposed to aspirin or clopidogrel within 5 days before surgery were compared with those not exposed to these drugs.

The influence of propofol versus sevoflurane anesthesia on outcome in 10,535 cardiac surgical procedures.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible cardioprotective effect of sevoflurane versus propofol anesthesia in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Methods: Ten thousand five hundred thirty-five consecutive single cardiac surgical procedures from 3 cardiac centers were reported to a common registry from 1999 to 2005. The registry was established by the National Board of Health, and reporting was obligatory for all public heart centers in Denmark.