Coronary angiography prior to surgery for valvular heart disease

Coronary angiography prior to surgery for valvular heart disease Brief Review Abstract: Coronary angiography prior to surgery for valvular heart disease is considered for those forty years and above if there are no coronary risk factors and for those thirty five years and above when there are coronary risk factors. Screening coronary angiography is usual prior to surgery for valvular heart disease in older individuals even though most of these diagnostic angiograms turn out to be normal.  This is done because clinical, electrocardiographic, echocardiographic and radionuclide are not very specific for detection of coronary artery disease in the presence of severe valvular heart disease. Moreover, long term outcome is better if those with significant associated coronary artery disease undergo coronary artery bypass grafting in addition to valvular surgery.1 Prevalence of coronary artery disease in valvular heart disease Atalar E and colleagues in a retrospective analysis of over one thousand patients found about eleven percent prevalence of significant coronary artery disease in those undergoing surgery for rheumatic valvular disease.2 They noted that those with associated coronary artery disease were older than those without coronary artery disease with a mean age of around 55 years vs 51 years. Conventional risk factors like hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and smoker were seen in those with significant coronary artery disease. Among the valvular lesions, aort...
Source: Cardiophile MD - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Angiography and Interventions Cardiac Surgery Source Type: blogs