Ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. Andrea Lassnigg

Workaddress
Medical University of Vienna
Department of Cardio-Thoracic- Vascular Anaesthesia & Intensive Care
Waehringer Guertel 18-20
1090 Vienna, Austria

Phone: +43 (0)1 40400 - 4109
Fax: +43 (0)1 40400 - 6404
E-Mail: andrea.lassnigg@meduniwien.ac.at

Know-how and research interests
Know-how: Since our first, important and very often cited publication in the year 2000 our group researches increasingly on organ protection and non-surgery-related risk profiles.

Main research interest is now on cohort studies in order to find valuable predictors, models and risk indicators for several, especially renal, organ protection and dysfunction. In this context, research about risk and prevention of acute kidney injury (AKI) in cardiac surgical patients remains the most important topic.

AKI is an infrequent but major and well known complication of cardiac surgery. It’s incidence ranges from 1 to 30% in all types of cardiac operations. Numerous pre-, intra-, and postoperative factors have been found to promote development of AKI. Morbidity of this entity is of paramount patient-related and socio-economic impact, if severe, renal replacement therapies (RRT) have to be instituted which are heavy for patients, care persons and also economically. Additionally, patients with need for RRT are at a tremendously high risk to die early after the operation.

Beyond this topics our cohort study group looks also for other socio-economic relationships with cardiac surgery and intensive care. Together with the Institute of Medical Statistics and Statistik Austria demographic analyses have been made after cardiac surgery with most importantly questioning operations at higher age of life. Last but not least we have very long-term follow-up of almost all of our patients following cardiac surgery.

Ongoing projects include investigations on

• Relative survival models (life table comparison)
• The involvement of known risk indicators on short- and long-term mortality (EuroSCORE)

Research topic (general title)

Organ protection and outcome in cardiac surgery patients.

Techniques and infrastructure of the research group
Coordination with the Institute of Medical Statistics and the Clinical Institute of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, Medical University of Vienna, with other European Centers in a European Workgroup of Cardiothoracic Intensive Care as important Human Resources. Technically/statistically we perform survival analyses which have been received considerable attention and can be found in many different fields of medicine.

5 selected publications

• Lassnigg A, Donner E, Grubhofer G, Presterl E, Druml W, Hiesmayr M.
  Lack of renoprotective effects of dopamine and furosemide during cardiac surgery. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2000 Jan;11(1):97-104.
  
  
• Lassnigg A, Schmidlin D, Mouhieddine M, Bachmann L, Druml W, Bauer P, Hiesmayr M. Minimal changes of serum creatinine predict prognosis in patients after cardiothoracic surgery: A prospective cohort study
  J Am Soc Nephrol. 2004, 15:1597-605.
  
  
• Lassnigg A, Schmid ER, Hiesmayr M, Falk Ch, Druml W, Bauer P, Schmidlin D. Impact of minimal increases in Serum Creatinine on Outcome in patients after cardiothoracic surgery: Do we have to revise current definitions of Acute Renal Failure? Crit Care Med. 2008, 36:1129-37
  
  
• Lassnigg A, Hiesmayr M, Frantal S, Brannath W, Mouhieddine M, Presterl E, Isetta C, Bachmann LM, Andreas M, Seitelberger R, Schmidlin D Long-term absolute and relative survival after aortic valve replacement: a prospective cohort study. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2013, 30:695-703
  
  
• Skhirtladze K, Base EM, Lassnigg A, Kaider A, Linke S, Dworschak M, Hiesmayr MJ. Albumin 5%, 6% Hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4 or Ringer’s lactate for fluid management during cardiac surgery: What difference does it make? BJA. 2013,