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Anemic
patients are five times more likely to die in the hospital
after undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery than those
with normal hemoglobin concentrations, according to a study
in the May 16th issue of the Lancet.
Researchers
from the Imperial College School of Science, Technology, and
Medicine in London did an observational study of 2,059 patients
undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery to assess the effect
of hemoglobin concentration on in-hospital death.
Individuals
with a preoperative hemoglobin concentration of 100 g/L or
less were found to have a high mortality rate after surgery,
despite attempts to correct the anemia through blood transfusions
and other means beforehand.
"I
do not suggest that anemic patients should forego the operation,"
lead researcher D. Jens Peder Bagger told Medical Week. "However,
it is a good idea to evaluate patients with anemia before
they undergo CABG."
Bagger
said low hemoglobin likely is the marker for a serious condition
in addition to coronary artery disease and is not just a biochemical
measurement that can be ignored after it is corrected.
Source:
Heart
Disease Week of May 19, 2002
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