Preoperative Atrial Fibrillation and Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Outcomes

Abstract

Introduction: Traditionally, atrial fibrillation is considered a comorbid factor for coronary artery bypass surgery as well as other surgeries, however, current literature is still limited. In this study, the effects of preoperative atrial fibrillation on coronary artery bypass grafting were investigated. Patients and Methods: Following the hospital’s clinical trials ethics committee approval, data from 151 patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass surgery were collected with the assistance of the hospital’s electronic records system. The follow-up duration was 12 months. Statistically significant P value cut-off taken as 0.05. Results: The mean age was 61.5 and 26.6% (n= 40) of the patients were female. Preoperative atrial fibrillation (Afib) prevalence was 13.3% (n= 20). No significant differences were observed in patient demographics, metabolic, systemic, and cardiovascular conditions between the group with preoperative atrial fibrillation and the control group (p> 0.05). However, the previous myocardial infarction rate was found higher (38.9 vs. 70.0, p= 0.009), and carotid artery stenosis disease prevalence was found lower (18.2 vs. 0.0, p= 0.038), also mean glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was found lower (85.9 vs. 69.7, p= 0.002) in the patients with Afib. Intraoperative parameters were not statistically different among the group (p> 0.05). Despite the preoperative dysthymia history, myocardial infarction prevalence, and poor kidney function; there was no difference in terms of postoperative acute kidney injury rates, stroke rates, perioperative complication rates, and thirty-day and 12-month survival (p> 0.05). However, the re-revascularization requirement was higher in patients in the Afib group. Conclusion: Atrial fibrillation is a prevalent comorbidity in coronary artery bypass grafting patients. However, it was not found as a factor that related to mortality or morbidity and coronary surgery seems feasible in this patient group.