Perioperative clinical variables and long-term survival following vascular surgery.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Coronary artery disease (CAD) is highly prevalent, and often times coexist, in patients with PAD. The management of patients with PAD that requires a high-risk vascular surgical procedure for intermittent claudication, critical limb ischemia or expanding abdominal aortic aneurysm requires risk stratification with the revised cardiac risk index, optimization of medical therapies, and limited use of cardiac imaging prior to surgery. Preventive revascularization in patients with stable CAD, with the sole intention to mitigate the risk of cardiac complications in the peri-operative period, is not effective and may be associated with significant bleeding and thrombotic risks, in particular if stents are used. A strategy of universal use of cardiac troponins in the perioperative period for active surveillance of myocardial ischemia may be more reasonable and cost-effective than the current standard of care of widespread use of cardiac imaging prior to high-risk surgery. An elevated cardiac troponin after vascular surgery is predictive of long-term mortality risk. Medical therapies such as aspirin and statins are recommended for patients with post-operative myocardial ischemia. Ongoing trials are assessing the role of novel anticoagulants. Additional research is needed to define the role of cardiac imaging and invasive angiography in this population.