The use of psychological test data to predict open-heart surgery outcome: a prospective study

In an attempt to predict survival of open-heart surgery, particularly among high risk subjects who undergo extra-corporeal circulation [ECG] using pump oxygenation perfusion, a preoperative battery including intellectual, personality and neuropsychological instruments and also ratings of cardiac impairment, was administered to 15 control [cardiac surgery without ECG] and 72 experimental [ECG] subjects. Subjects were divided into survivor [S] and fatality [F] groups, and preoperative test data were analyzed using multivariate stepwise discrimination techniques. In a variety of analyses, at least 86% and as high as 100% of subjects were correctly classified as survivors or fatalities on the basis of variables sampled, indicating the outcome of cardiac surgery may be predicted preoperatively with a high degree of accuracy.