Cardiovascular system

This chapter covers the assessment and investigation of perioperative cardiac risk, the principles of perioperative haemodynamic monitoring and physiological changes in cardiac comorbidity with their relevance to anaesthetic management. Perioperative cardiovascular risk includes assessment of cardiac risk factors, functional capacity and evidence-based guidelines for preassessment. Cardiovascular investigations such as cardiopulmonary exercise testing and scoring systems for cardiac risk are included. Management of the cardiac patient for non-cardiac surgery is detailed. Invasive monitoring with arterial, central venous and pulmonary artery catheters is described. Cardiac output measurement systems including dilution techniques, pulse contour analysis and Doppler are compared. The physiological changes, management and implications for anaesthesia of common cardiac comorbidity including ischaemic heart disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease, pacemakers and pulmonary hypertension are described.