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Published on: August 28, 2018
Indications for coronary arteriography: risks vs. benefits
Insights
Coronary arteriography, a heart imaging procedure, should only be performed in centers with high caseloads and proper facilities. Low-volume labs significantly increase patient mortality and morbidity risks.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Interventional Cardiology
- Medical Procedure Safety
Background:
- Coronary arteriography is increasingly performed outside major medical centers.
- The diagnostic procedure carries significant risks.
- Its justification relies on potential benefits from subsequent surgical interventions for coronary artery disease.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish criteria for performing coronary arteriography based on risk-benefit analysis.
- To evaluate the impact of institutional caseload on the safety of coronary arteriography.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of risk-benefit ratios for coronary arteriography.
- Survey of mortality and morbidity data across different caseload institutions.
Main Results:
- Mortality risk increases at least twentyfold in low-caseload laboratories compared to high-caseload institutions.
- Morbidity risk increases sixfold in low-caseload laboratories compared to high-caseload institutions.
Conclusions:
- Coronary arteriography is associated with substantially higher risks in low-volume settings.
- Performing the procedure necessitates appropriate team facilities and a high caseload to ensure patient safety.
Abstract:
Coronary arteriography has become a diagnostic procedure which is no longer limited to major medical centers but is being performed in many community hospitals. The procedure carries an appreciable risk, which is only justifiable by specific benefits to the patient. The benefits are related to the potential availability of newer surgical procedures of bypassing obstructive coronary arterial lesions. A specific set of criteria for the performance of coronary arteriography has been developed from a critical analysis of the ratio of risk to benefit. A survey of the risk of coronary arteriography indicates that mortality increases at least twentyfold and morbidity sixfold when this procedure is performed in laboratories with a low caseload as compared with high caseload institutions. Thus there appears to be no justification for performing coronary arteriography in the absence of proper team facilities.
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