Anaesthetic assessment and management of cardiac patients for non-cardiac surgery - Part I: Assessment

Cardiac disease is known to increase the risk of non-cardiac surgery to pat ients who suffer from it. Clinical and investigation data may be used to id entify those at increased risk. Attempts have been made to integrate these risk factors into systems that can quantify risk in terms of increased morb idity and mortality. In this article we discuss the various aspects of card iac illness that are known to increase risk for patients and then look at t he different scoring systems that have been produced. We consider the type and urgency of surgery and finish by providing an approach to risk assessme nt for non-cardiac surgery.