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The authors participated in a multi-institutional prospective study to evaluate the frequency, risk factors, and outcomes of patients who suffer mediastinal infection after cardiac surgery. A total of 5,158 patients were enrolled, and there were 43 infections in 41 patients (0.79 cumulative incidence) occurring at a median time of 20 days after surgery. The authors discovered the following risk factors for the development of mediastinitis:
higher body mass index
higher creatinine
peripheral vascular disease
preoperative steroids
ventricular assist device or transplant surgery
postoperative hyperglycemia in nondiabetics
Readmission rates and mortality were five times higher in patients who developed mediastinitis.
