title: Evaluation of quality of life after cardiac surgery in high-risk patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Conventionally, there is controversy over subjecting high-risk patients to cardiac operations, due to major postoperative complications. Higher survival rates and less morbidity as well as better quality of life can be good predictors of the outcome of surgery. This study evaluates the quality of life before and 12 months after cardiac operations on high-risk patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) II was used to separate high-risk patients from others. The quality of life was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) before surgery and one year afterward. Based on SF-36, the score for each of the eight different dimensions of the quality of life was quantified; and, their differences between pre-surgery and post-follow up period were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  126 high-risk patients were included in this study. The mean age of the patients was 64.29 ± 12.35 years. The median of EuroSCORE II score in these cases was 6.83 (6.04-25.98). The results reveal that the majority of the quality of life dimensions, except mental health, improved significantly after the follow-up period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cardiac surgery on high-risk patients can noticeably promote the different aspects of their quality of life; although, such improvements should be considered against surgical complications.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran Department of Clinical Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.
authors.forename: Hanif
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tabesh
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Surgery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.
authors.forename: Hossein Ahmadi
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Tafti
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran Statistics in Medical Research, Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ameri
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jalali
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Narges
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kashanivahid
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome