Is Preoperative Serum Bicarbonate an Undervalued Risk Factor in Cardiac Surgery?

Authors

Wesley Chorney, John Hinchion

Published in

Journal of cardiovascular translational research. Volume 19. Issue 1. Jul 13, 2026. Epub Jul 13, 2026.

Abstract

Existing risk stratification methods in cardiothoracic surgery do not use pre-operative bicarbonate levels. We investigate if these levels carry predictive value when compared with demographic, hematologic, and other renal function indicators. We used the MIMIC-IV database to identify 11,261 patients on the cardiothoracic surgery unit who underwent ICD-9 or ICD-10 coded cardiac procedures. 30-day mortality was then modeled with respect to these indicators. Minimum pre-operative bicarbonate level is an independent risk factor for 30-day mortality post-cardiothoracic surgery ([Formula: see text]). The lowest quartile with respect to bicarbonate had increased mortality compared to all other quartiles, suggesting that patients may be classified into high- or low-risk based on bicarbonate lesser or greater than 20 mmol/L. Minimum pre-operative bicarbonate levels carry predictive information with respect to post-operative mortality. Bicarbonate could be considered alongside existing risk stratification methods in addition to other renal function indicators to improve risk stratification.

PMID:
42439975
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Jul 2026.

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