Impact of Preoperative Anemia on Outcome in Adult Cardiac Surgery: A Propensity-Matched Analysis

Moderate-to-severe preoperative anemia is a risk factor for major morbidity and operative mortality in adult cardiac operations. This finding is confirmative of the role of preoperative anemia in determining adverse events in major noncardiac operations. The exclusion of preoperative anemia from the existing risk scores is probably a statistical consequence of the associated comorbid conditions that confound the specific role of anemia as a risk factor.