BACKGROUND Anticoagulation with warfarin following bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement (BMVR) is recommended by multiple practice guidelines. We assessed practice variability and patient characteristics associated with warfarin prescription following BMVR. METHODS We analyzed 7,637 patients in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database (January 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011) who were discharged ...

BACKGROUND Since the advent of public reporting on risk-adjusted mortality for coronary artery bypass graft surgery, public reporting on outcomes has expanded to include a variety of dissimilar conditions and procedures. We have little evidence to support such broad-based efforts. METHODS AND RESULTS We examined the quality performance of 351 cardiologists at 48 hospitals in New York State, u...

BACKGROUND Although the risk of hypoxemia is greatest during the first 72 h after surgery, little is known of the incidence of respiratory failure during this period. The authors studied the incidence and predictors of unanticipated early postoperative intubation (within 3 days) and its role in mortality. METHODS A total of 222,094 adult patients undergoing nonemergent, noncardiac surgery in ...

BACKGROUND Atrial arrhythmias (AA) are an important cause of morbidity after cardiac surgery. Efforts at prevention of postoperative AA have been suboptimal. Perioperative beta-blocker administration is the standard of care at many centers. Although prophylactic administration of magnesium sulfate (MgSO(4)) has been recommended, review of all previously published trials of MgSO(4) reveals confl...

OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that transillumination would increase peripheral intravenous (IV) insertion success rates in pediatric emergency department patients. Primary outcome was success in first attempt, and secondary outcome was success within 2 attempts. METHODS We evaluated IV insertion by pediatric emergency department physicians and nurses using the Veinlite (TransLite, Sugar Land, Te...

Spinal anesthesia recently has gained popularity for elective cesarean section. Our anesthesia service changed from epidural to spinal anesthesia for elective cesarean section in 1991. To evaluate the significance of this change in terms of time management, costs, charges, and complication rates, we retrospectively reviewed the charts of patients who had received epidural (n = 47) or spinal (n ...