Cardiac Disease and the Patient with Burns

Cardiac disease has many manifestations that may complicate burn care. A review of 2477 consecutive acute burn admissions was conducted to determine the types and incidence of cardiac complications in this patient population. Nearly one half of patients with a prior cardiac history manifested some form of cardiac dysfunction, most frequently arrhythmias. Eight percent had an in-hospital myocardial infarction. Only 6% of patients without a prior cardiac history manifested cardiac dysfunction. The in-hospital mortality rate after myocardial infarction for both groups was 3.5 to 4 times that of patients without burns. Except for patients with prosthetic valves, for whom anticoagulation and infection prophylaxis are required, burn care of the cardiac patient is expectant with selective use of invasive monitoring and therapy as determined by the patient's clinical course.