Perioperative Supraventricular Tachyarrhythmia

Letters18 May 1999Perioperative Supraventricular TachyarrhythmiaDavid Amar, MDDavid Amar, MDMemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; New York, NY 10021 (Amar)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-130-10-199905180-00012 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:I read with interest Polanczyk and colleagues' article (1) on perioperative supraventricular tachyarrhythmia, especially after cardiothoracic operations. Although the authors demonstrate that age 70 years or older is an independent preoperative correlate of arrhythmia after surgery, it would have been helpful not to dichotomize this important risk factor but to report and compare the actual age between patients who did and those who did not develop arrhythmias. The authors confirm that atrial fibrillation is the most common supraventricular arrhythmia in the perioperative period. As in atrial fibrillation unrelated to surgery, age older than 60 years is consistently ...References1. Polanczyk CA, Goldman L, Marcantonio ER, Orav EJ, Lee TH. Supraventricular arrhythmia in patients having noncardiac surgery: clinical correlates and effect on length of stay. Ann Intern Med. 1998;129:279-85. LinkGoogle Scholar2. Ommen SR, Odell JA, Stanton MS. Atrial arrhythmias after cardiothoracic surgery. N Engl J Med. 1997;336:1429-34. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Amar D, Roistacher N, Burt ME, Rusch VW, Bains MS, Leung DH, et al . Effects of diltiazem versus digoxin on dysrhythmias and cardiac function after pneumonectomy. Ann Thorac Surg. 1997;63:1374-82. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Ritchie AJ, Bowe P, Gibbons JR. Prophylactic digitalization for thoracotomy: a reassessment. Ann Thorac Surg. 1990;50:86-8. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Falk RH, Leavitt JJ. Digoxin for atrial fibrillation: a drug whose time has gone? Ann Intern Med. 1991;114:573-5. LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; New York, NY 10021 (Amar) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoSupraventricular Arrhythmia in Patients Having Noncardiac Surgery: Clinical Correlates and Effect on Length of Stay Carisi A. Polanczyk , Lee Goldman , Edward R. Marcantonio , E. John Orav , and Thomas H. Lee Perioperative Supraventricular Tachyarrhythmia Thomas H. Lee and Carisi A. Polanczyk Metrics 18 May 1999Volume 130, Issue 10Page: 863-864KeywordsArrhythmiaAtrial fibrillationCardiothoracic surgeryDiureticsMedical risk factorsRandomized trialsRisk managementSurgeryTachycardiaThoracic surgery Issue Published: 18 May 1999 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 1999 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...