British journal of anaesthesia
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Preoperative anaemia and outcome after elective cardiac surgery: a Dutch national registry analysis.
Previous studies have shown that preoperative anaemia in patients undergoing cardiac surgery is associated with adverse outcomes. However, most of these studies were retrospective, had a relatively small sample size, and were from a single centre. The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between the severity of preoperative anaemia and short- and long-term mortality and morbidity in a large multicentre national cohort of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. ⋯ Preoperative anaemia was associated with mortality and morbidity after cardiac surgery. The risk of adverse outcomes increased with anaemia severity. Preoperative anaemia is a potential target for treatment to improve postoperative outcomes.