title: Is atrial fibrillation caused by extracorporeal circulation?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Atrial fibrillation is the most common rhythm disturbance encountered after open heart operations, with a reported incidence up to 40%. Despite its high incidence and clinical relevance its etiology remains obscure. It has been hypothesized that atrial fibrillation might be related to extracorporeal circulation. We performed a retrospective study (January 1, 1997 to December 31, 1997) comparing the incidence of atrial fibrillation in 3 groups of patients revascularized with and without extracorporeal circulation.
  
  
  METHODS
  The first group comprised patients with coronary artery disease operated on with standard revascularization technique with cardiopulmonary bypass (n = 685). The second group included patients who had minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting without the use of extracorporeal circulation (n = 19). Patients in the third group had off-pump transmyocardial laser revascularization (n = 19).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference in the incidence of atrial fibrillation in the group that had conventional coronary artery bypass and the group that had minimally invasive coronary artery bypass without cardiopulmonary bypass. The incidence of atrial fibrillation was significantly lower in the transmyocardial laser group compared with the other two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study found that postoperative atrial fibrillation is not caused solely by extracorporeal circulation, but patients who had transmyocardial laser revascularization had a significantly lower incidence of atrial fibrillation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Feiring Heart Clinic, Norway. saatvedt@online.no
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saatvedt
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Fiane
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sellevold
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nordstrand
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000209:etiology*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008297:Male; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization; D012189:Retrospective Studies