[Characteristics of mortality among patients waiting for coronary arteriographic evaluation or heart surgery]

It was the aim to reduce deaths among future patients queuing for heart catheterization or surgery. All the patients who died, after they were referred for heart catheterization or surgery because of coronary heart and heart valve disease, were registered over a three year period (July 1, 1990 to June 30, 1993). The total number of deaths was 98. Ninety-two (94%) died of cardiac disease. Seventyfour (80%) only had symptoms of cardiac disease; ten (11%) had competitive disease and eight (9%) had received revascularizing treatment previously. The number of catheterizations increased from 968 to 1312 per year, while the number of operations remained constant at about 600 per year. The death-rate for patients referred to heart catheterization was 2.5% for patients with aortic valve disease and 1.7% for patients with coronary heart disease. For patients referred for coronary artery bypass grafting the death-rate was 2.6% and for heart valve surgery 3.9%. The survival-time for patients waiting for catheterization was 4.2 months (0.3-16) and 4 months (1-16) for patients waiting for surgery. Half of the deaths in patients queuing for cardiac catheterization occurred within one month of waiting while half of the deaths in patients waiting for heart surgery appeared within 1.3 months. In the early deaths among patients queuing for cardiac catheterization there was a tendency towards prolonged doctor's delay and a surplus of patients with aortic valve disease. Deaths among patients awaiting heart catheterization or surgery can hardly be avoided. However, in the present study the death-rates for patients referred to surgery was 1.8 to 7.7 times higher compared to the conditions in other Western countries. The waiting-time was long and cardiac deaths frequent, reflecting the low capacity for invasive procedures as well as operations during this period.