Effect of age and gender on pre-operative cardiovascular risk assessment.

Background: The AUB-HAS2 Cardiovascular Risk Index is a recently published tool for pre-operative cardiovascular evaluation. It is based on six data elements: history of heart disease, symptoms of angina or dyspnea, age ≥ 75 years, hemoglobin < 12 mg/dl, vascular surgery, and emergency surgery. The objective of this study is to study the effect of age and gender on the performance of the AUB-HAS2 Index in pre-operative cardiovascular risk assessment.

AUB-HAS2 Cardiovascular Risk Index: Performance in Surgical Subpopulations and Comparison to the Revised Cardiac Risk Index.

Background The American University of Beirut (AUB)-HAS2 Cardiovascular Risk Index is a newly derived index for preoperative cardiovascular evaluation. It is based on 6 data elements: history of heart disease; symptoms of angina or dyspnea; age ≥75 years; hemoglobin <12 mg/dL; vascular surgery; and emergency surgery. In this study we analyze the performance of this new index and compare it with that of the Revised Cardiac Risk Index in a broad spectrum of surgical subpopulations.

A New Index for Pre-Operative Cardiovascular Evaluation.

Background: Currently used indices for pre-operative cardiovascular evaluation are either powerful, but complex, or simple, but with weak discriminatory power.

Objectives: This study sought to prospectively derive and validate a simple powerful index that can stratify the cardiovascular risk of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery.

Methods: The derivation cohort consisted of 3,284 prospectively enrolled adult patients undergoing noncardiac surgery at the American University of Beirut Medical Center.

Predictors of In-Hospital Mortality in Patients Admitted with Acute Myocardial Infarction in a Developing Country.

Background: Limited data are available on the predictors of mortality in patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in developing countries. In this study, we analyze the predictors for in--hospital mortality in patients hospitalized with AMI (ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI)) in a large tertiary referral university hospital in Lebanon.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 503 patients admitted to the American University of Beirut Medical Center with AMI (228 with STEMI and 275 with NSTEMI).

Variations in the referral patterns to pharmacologic and exercise myocardial perfusion imaging.

Background: Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is commonly utilized for the non-invasive evaluation of patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). It is either performed with exercise or pharmacologic stress. The objective of this study is to compare the referral patterns and diagnostic findings in patients referred for pharmacologic vs exercise MPI.