A Fond Farewell

Excerpt

It is hard to believe we have reached the final issue of HSS Journal^® for the year 2017. This issue completes Volume 13. Once again we have prepared an issue that reflects the breadth and diversity of our specialty. I direct your attention to the article by Urban and his colleagues. They report on the incidence of cardiac events after elective orthopedic surgery at a high volume, urban academic teaching hospital. They noted that in the year of observation 20% of patients undergoing elective procedures could be identified as having predictable risk for peri-operative cardiac events and that 1.2% actually developed evidence of cardiac ischemia. Posterior spinal fusion as a procedure was found to carry a higher risk for myocardial ischemia when compared to total hip or total knee arthroplasty. In my opinion, this study re-emphasizes the importance of assessing and understanding the risk of cardiac injury from elective orthopedic surgery. I consider this an article of universal interest. …