Cardiac & Pulmonary Complications

Cardiac and pulmonary complications are conditions of the heart and lungs that aggravate, or are aggravated by, another medical condition or a medical procedure. There are many possible causes of cardiac and pulmonary complications.

Definition

• Cardiac complications refer to medical complications that affect the heart, and pulmonary complications are medical complications that affect the lungs. The term cardiopulmonary refers to the heart and the lungs.

Types

• Cardiac and pulmonary complications can include, but are not limited to, such conditions as high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, dysfunction of the ventricles of the heart, respiratory depression and collection of fluid in the lungs.

Neurological Causes

• According to research published in the journal "Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports" in 2007, conditions and illnesses that damage the brain and nervous system, such as stroke, brain injury and epilepsy, can cause cardiac and pulmonary complications.

Risk

• According to a study published in the "Journal of General Internal Medicine" in 2007, cardiac and pulmonary complications, resulting in extended hospitalization, are associated with a "substantial proportion" of abdominal surgery cases.

Considerations

• According to research published in the "American Journal of Medicine" in 1990, a "supine bicycle ergometry" test may be an effective predictor of potentially lethal cardiac and pulmonary complications of abdominal and thoracic surgeries in elderly patients. According to a study published in the journal "Chest" in 2001, a "stair climbing test" may predict the possibility of cardiopulmonary complications in patients about to undergo lung resection surgery.