Prediction of mortality after heart surgery

The perioperative metabolic state is a key predictor of clinical outcome after cardiac surgery. In particular, stress hyperglycemia – an acute increase in blood glucose due to surgical and inflammatory stress reactions – correlates closely with increased complication and mortality rates. The stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) links acute glucose levels to long-term glycemic status (_HbA1c), providing a robust method to estimate mortality risk in the short and long term. In this comprehensive summary, we present the key findings of the recent study by Pei et al [4] and discuss how SHR-based algorithms can help to identify patients early and make individualized treatment decisions.