Prognostic implication of preoperative anemia in redo cardiac surgery: a single center propensity matched analysis

Preoperative anemia has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery, but little is known about its prognostic value in the setting of redo procedure. A retrospective, observational cohort study of prospectively collected data was undertaken on 409 consecutive patients referred for redo cardiac procedures between January 2011 and December 2020. The EuroSCORE II calculated an average mortality risk of 25.7 ± 15.4%. Selection bias was assessed with the propensity-adjustment method. The prevalence of preoperative anemia was 41%. In unmatched analysis, significant differences between the anemic and nonanemic groups emerged in the risk for postoperative stroke (0.6% vs. 4.4%, = 0.023), postoperative renal dysfunction (29.7% vs. 15.6%, = 0.001), a need for prolonged ventilation (18.1% vs. 7.2%, = 0.002), and high-dosage inotropes (53.1% vs. 32.9%, < 0.001) along with both length of ICU and hospital stay (8.2 ± 15.9 vs. 4.3 ± 5.4 days, = 0.003 and 18.8 ± 17.4 vs. 14.9 ± 11.1, = 0.012). After propensity matching (145 pairs), preoperative anemia was still significantly associated with postoperative renal dysfunction, stroke, and the need for high-dosage inotrope cardiac morbidity. Preoperative anemia is significantly associated with acute kidney injury, stroke, and the need for high-dosage inotropes in patients referred for redo procedures.