title: Immediate rescue operations after failed diagnostic or therapeutic cardiac catheterization procedures.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although rare, life-threatening complications requiring emergency cardiac surgery do occur after diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac catheterization procedures. The operative mortality has been persistently reported to remain high. The purpose of this observational study was to evaluate and report the outcomes, with particular emphasis on early mortality, of these risky operations that were performed in a single highly specialized cardiac centre.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between June 1997 and August 2007, 100 consecutive patients, 13 after diagnostic complicated cardiac catheterization (0.038% of 34,193 angiographies) and 87 after crashed percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; 0.56% of 15,544 PCIs), received emergency operations at the Feiring Heart Center. In the same period, 10,192 other patients underwent open cardiac surgery. Early outcome data were analysed and compared between the cohorts. Follow-up was 100% complete.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The preoperative status of the 100 patients was that 4 had ongoing external cardiac massage, 24 were in cardiogenic shock, 32 had frank enduring ST-segment infarction but without shock and 40 had threatened acute myocardial infarction. There was 1% (1 patient) 30-day mortality in the study group, which is equal (0.9%, P=0.60) to that of all other operations. Postoperative myocardial infarction and prolonged ventilator use were significantly higher in the crash group, whereas the rate of stroke, renal failure, reopening for bleeding and mediastinitis were similar between the groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With rapid transfer to an operation room, minimizing the time of warm myocardial ischaemia, and by performing complete coronary revascularization, it is possible to obtain equally low operative mortality in patients with life-threatening cardiac catheterization-associated complications, as is the case with open cardiac operations in general.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Feiring Heart Center, Feiring, Norway. sven.m.almdahl@unn.no
authors.forename: Sven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Almdahl
authors.forename: Terje
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Veel
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Halvorsen
authors.forename: Stein E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Rynning
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D009664:Norway; D062645:Percutaneous Coronary Intervention / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012770:Shock, Cardiogenic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D017211:Treatment Failure
keywords: Cardiac catheterization; Cardiac surgery; Early mortality; Emergency; Percutaneous coronary intervention