Impact of radionuclide ventriculography prior to elective abdominal aortic reconstruction

We evaluated how preoperative radionuclide ventriculography (RNV) influences the clinical management of 96 patients referred for elective infrarenal abdominal aortic surgery. Of these, 11 had aortoiliac occlusive disease and 85 an abdominal aortic aneurysm. In 89 patients (93%), there was a known history or clinical evidence of coronary artery disease prior to RNV. The scan was abnormal in half the patients. There were 56 patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) >50% and 40 with LVEF ≤50%. The LVEF ranged between 10% and 88% with a mean of 52.8±14.1%. There was normal wall motion in 56 patients and wall abnormalities were present in 40, including four LV aneurysms. After initial assessment, 19 patients did not proceed to surgery for a variety of reasons. Cardiology consultation was requested in 11 patients, six of which were delayed or turned down for surgery mainly on cardiac grounds. Only one of these underwent cardiac catheterization. Of the remaining 77 patients who underwent surgery, 15 were seen by a cardiologist and one was delayed in order to optimize his cardiac status. No patient underwent prophylactic coronary angioplasty/stenting or revascularization preoperatively. In addition, based on the RNV results and in conjunction with the clinical findings, six patients had pulmonary artery catheters inserted either the night prior to operation (n = 3) or after induction to anaesthesia (n = 3). This is the largest reported British series of cardiac testing using RNV prior to abdominal aortic surgery. Coronary artery disease is very common amongst such patients. RNV influences our decision-making and patient selection. An abnormal result may alter the clinical management, lead to a cardiology referral (26/96, 27% in this series) and have anaesthetic implications.