{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]],"date-time":"2026-06-02T12:13:50Z","timestamp":1780402430552,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780272000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Cardiovascular complications are the main cause of early mortality in elderly patients after hip fracture surgery. Echocardiography, although suggested by guidelines to improve risk stratification, is frequently omitted due to the risk of delaying surgery. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether in a multidisciplinary hip fracture unit, echocardiography can be performed without a delay in surgery. The secondary endpoint was to research the possible association between echocardiographic abnormalities and in-hospital mortality. Methods: The study included hip fracture patients aged &gt; 70 admitted in the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2024, to the hip fracture unit of a tertiary teaching hospital. Echocardiography was indicated according to clinical criteria (detection of heart murmur, pathological electrocardiographic changes, known heart disease and the presence of \u22653 coronary risk factors). In the study, there were 2272 patients; 1593 had indications for preoperative echocardiography, which was performed in 1502. Mean age was significantly higher in the ECHO group than in the NO ECHO group (85.4 \u00b1 8 vs. 80.5 \u00b1 11 years, p &lt; 0.0001). ECHO group patients more frequently had at least two comorbidities and more severe functional impairment. In-hospital mortality was 7.3% in ECHO patients compared to 2.3% in NO ECHO patients. Results: Multivariate analysis showed that decreased left ventricular ejection fraction and pulmonary hypertension, as well as age, anemia, and reduced functional capacity expressed as lost BADL, were associated with in-hospital mortality. Conclusions: Echocardiography identifies a population at a high risk of in-hospital mortality, three times higher compared to the group of NO ECHO patients. In those who underwent echocardiography, a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction and an increase in pulmonary pressure were associated with in-hospital mortality.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15114284","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]],"date-time":"2026-06-02T11:25:31Z","timestamp":1780399531000},"page":"4284","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Echocardiography Does Not Delay Surgery in Elderly Patients with Hip Fractures, and Pulmonary Hypertension and Decreased Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Are Associated with In-Hospital Mortality"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7764-8919","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlo","family":"Rostagno","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Universit\u00e0 di Firenze, 50134 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessandro","family":"Cartei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SOD Geriatria, AOU Careggi, 50134 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gaia","family":"Rubbieri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SOD Geriatria, AOU Careggi, 50134 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alice","family":"Ceccofiglio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SOD Geriatria, AOU Careggi, 50134 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4056-4244","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giulio Maria","family":"Mannarino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SOD Geriatria, AOU Careggi, 50134 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0010-7532","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberto","family":"Civinini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SOD Ortopedia e Traumatologia, AOU Careggi, 50134 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"279","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2020.7840","article-title":"Perioperative Cardiovascular Risk Assessment and Management for Noncardiac Surgery: A Review","volume":"324","author":"Smilowitz","year":"2020","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"d3695","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.d3695","article-title":"Association of echocardiography before major elective non-cardiac surgery with postoperative survival and length of hospital stay: Population based cohort study","volume":"342","author":"Wijeysundera","year":"2011","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chang, H.Y., Chang, W.T., and Liu, Y.W. 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