ABSTRACT
Assessing perioperative risk Risk factors and predictors The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) have produced
guidelines for evaluating cardiac risk in non-cardiac surgery. They use clinical factors in addition to functional capacity and surgical risk stratifi cation to predict cardiac risk. High-risk surgery includes aortic and other major vascular surgery plus peripheral vascular surgery; intermediate risk surgery includes carotid endarterectomy and endovascular aneurysm repair. The majority of patients are elderly with a greater male preponderance (5:1). Younger patients often have a family history, are smokers or have a history of diabetes mellitus. Most vascular patients are American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade 3 or above and usually have one or more comorbidities.
