November 13, 2013

Rose Ann Di Maria-Ghalili, PhD, an associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Professions’ Division of Graduate Nursing, recently published an article entitled “Inflammation, Functional Status, and Weight Loss During Recovery From Cardiac Surgery in Older Adults: A Pilot Study” in the journal, Biological Research for Nursing. The objective was to determine nutritional, inflammatory, and functional aspects of unintentional weight loss after cardiac surgery that requires further study. The study was conducted from August 2008 to February 2009 at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, and included twenty patients. DiMaria-Ghalili and her co-authors concluded that weight loss can occur after cardiac surgery due to a continued inflammatory response with decreased physical functioning, which may not result in a positive outcome. The article states that these findings are preliminary and will require further study.