[Verse 1] Low stakes high stakes, listen to the math, elective swap of conduit, one percent the path, maybe two in older kids, grown folks on the table, numbers drop that low because the team is stable. But flip the script to infant chest, emergency room glow, numbers climb like mercury when the heart's running slow. Ventricle already failing, patchwork from before, every extra variable kicks that risk score through the floor. [Chorus] Count the risk before you cut it, EF, class, rhythm, scars — don't you duck it, bugs in the valve, lungs under pressure, kidneys drag the weight, seven whispers tell the surgeon when to operate. STAT score, Aristotle, numbers wearing a crown, STS keeps the ledger, keeps the whole league down to town. [Verse 2] Let's read the chart like tea leaves, start up at the top, ejection fraction stumbling, that's the first red stop, right ventricle sluggish or the left one losing steam, pump that can't keep rhythm wrecks the whole surgical dream. NYHA three or four, the climber short of breath, whisper in the hallway sounding closer to the edge. History of V-tach, electric storm inside, that's a flag the anesthesiologist can't just push aside. [Verse 3] Now the chest wall's a battlefield, scarred from zip to sternum, third time opening it up, adhesions waiting to burn him, endocarditis crawling vegetation on the valve, pulmonary pressures climbing like they're doing wind-sprint calves. Kidneys filtering slower, creatinine on the rise, every organ casts a vote before you compromise. Add it up, not checkbox — it's a conversation, loud, risk prediction isn't fortune telling, it's informed and proud. [Chorus] Count the risk before you cut it, EF, class, rhythm, scars — don't you duck it, bugs in the valve, lungs under pressure, kidneys drag the weight, seven whispers tell the surgeon when to operate. STAT score, Aristotle, numbers wearing a crown, STS keeps the ledger, keeps the whole league down to town. [Bridge] Wait too long, the ventricle remembers every day, scar tissue thickens while you're watching echoes fade away. Cut too soon, you're trading comfort for a risk unearned, Part Four's whole decision is the balance that we learned — weigh the knife against the calendar, weigh the heart against the clock, risk prediction is the compass, timing is the lock. [Verse 4] Complex repair stacked on repair, double valve, double arch, Aristotle score goes vertical, complexity's the march, benchmark centers measure volume, measure outcome, measure strain, compare your program's numbers so the data isn't vain. Low risk isn't promised, it's earned by catching early, before the ventricle gives out, before the signs go surly. Read the seven, trend the numbers, chart the fraction, watch it fall — risk prediction saves more hearts than any scalpel ever could at all.
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