Worldwide over 2 million adults (>30,000 Canadians) undergo heart surgery annually. Although heart surgery provides important survival benefits, it is associated with potential major complications such as death, stroke, and heart attack. There is promising evidence that measurement of heart injury markers after surgery will identify patients at risk of death or major complications.
This study will determine the current incidence of major complications in a representative sample of 15,000 contemporary adult patients undergoing heart surgery. Knowing the current burden of complications will inform clinicians, administrators, government and granting agencies about resources required to address the problem. This study will also establish the role of measuring heart injury markers to identify important heart injury after heart surgery and the proportion that would go undetected without routine heart injury marker monitoring. This information will facilitate further studies of timely interventions. In summary, the VISION Cardiac Surgery Study addresses fundamental questions that will have profound public health implications given the millions of adults worldwide who undergo heart surgery annually.
