Back to Functional Life Following Cardiac Surgery (BTFL2012)

In this work we will try to monitor the patients for a longer period, starting from their hospitalization period through their rehabilitation period up to 18 months post their discharge from the hospital.

Many studies tried to evaluate different ways to predict postoperative complications following cardiac surgery, patient's survival, rehabilitation rate and duration. Today, following these studies doctors use different methods to evaluate these parameters. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons mortality risk score (STS) and the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) scoring system are the two most frequently used risk profile systems within the United States and Europe. The STS score is comprised of over 40 clinical parameters, whereas the EuroSCORE involves 18 clinical characteristics that comprises three categories, each weighted accordingly. Studies published recently suggest that a combination of a new frailty score and the traditional scoring systems may facilitate a more accurate risk scoring in elderly high-risk patients scheduled for conventional cardiac surgery or trans-catheter aortic valve replacement.

In this study we will try to evaluate the contribution of using a frailty score index in addition to the EuroSCORE evaluation in patients≥50 years of age, in prediction of postoperative complications following cardiac surgery.