Coronary artery bypass graft surgery and cognitive performance.
BACKGROUND
Some studies have indicated a decline in patients' cognitive performance after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate cognitive performance before and after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.


METHODS
Patients' cognitive performance before and after coronary artery bypass graft surgery was evaluated in a prospective observational multicenter study in 5 academic medical centers. A total of 242 men and 123 women were evaluated before surgery; 333 men and 216 women, 5 to 11 months after surgery (197 men and 99 women were evaluated both before and after surgery). Verbal ability, attention/concentration, logical/verbal and visual memory, and facial recognition were measured. Data on demographic, medical, and psychosocial characteristics also were collected.


RESULTS
After surgery, patients' overall performance improved (P < .001) for attention/concentration, verbal fluency, and logical/verbal memory. Patients with more education (high school or greater) performed better on each test (P < .001) than did patients with less education. No strong effects of sex or age on cognitive performance were observed before or after surgery, and no important differences in sex, age, or education were associated with changes in scores from before to after surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
On average, cognitive performance improved rather than declined after coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The improvements were consistent across sex, age, and education.
Dupuis
Gilles
G
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. dupuis.gilles@uqam.ca
Kennedy
Elaine
E
Lindquist
Ruth
R
Barton
Franca B
FB
Terrin
Michael L
ML
Hoogwerf
Byron J
BJ
Czajkowski
Susan M
SM
Herd
J Alan
JA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors