Department of Surgical and Perioperative Science, Heart Center, Cardiothoracic Division, Umeå University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden. magnus.hedberg@karolinska.se
Stroke is a serious complication to cardiac surgery, and is generally considered as a uniform disease regardless of its temporal relationship to surgery. Our hypothesis suggests that stroke, in association with surgery, reflects other characteristics than stroke occurring with a free interval. This issue was here explored for risk factors and survival effects.
Data were collected from 7839 procedures of isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), 297 off-pump CABG, and 986 combined CABG and valve procedures. Records of patients with any signs of neurological complications were reviewed to extract 149 subjects with stroke at extubation (early, 1.6%) versus 99 patients having a free interval (delayed, 1.1%). Survival data were complete, with a median follow-up time of 9.3 years (maximum 16.3 years). Independent risk factors were analyzed by logistic regression and survival by Cox regression.
Risk factors for early stroke were advanced age, high preoperative creatinine level, extent of aortic atherosclerosis, and long cardiopulmonary bypass time (all P