Preoperative cardiac evaluation does not improve or predict perioperative or late survival in asymptomatic diabetic patients undergoing elective infrainguinal arterial reconstruction

Preoperative cardiac evaluation, as defined by the ACC/AHA algorithm, does not predict or improve postoperative morbidity, mortality, or 36-month survival in asymptomatic, diabetic patients undergoing elective lower-extremity arterial reconstruction. These data do not support the current ACC/AHA recommendations as a standard of care for diabetic patients with an intermediate clinical predictor who undergo peripheral arterial reconstruction, a high-risk surgical procedure.