A within-subjects comparison of learning and memory performance before and after cardiac catheterization.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the influence of stress on the recall of neutral information in a clinical setting, a prospective study was performed on patients who were admitted to the hospital for cardiac catheterization.


METHODS
During their hospital stay, 39 cardiac patients were tested for verbal recall and face recognition before cardiac catheterization (day 1) and 24 h after (day 2). Plasma cortisol levels were also determined. After catheterization, recognition of faces presented to each patient before catheterization was assessed.


RESULTS
Patients' verbal recall scores on both day 1 and day 2 were within normal limits for the age group but were significantly higher on day 1. Face recognition on day 2 was excellent. Blood cortisol levels did not differ significantly on days 1 and 2, and no significant relationship was found between change in cortisol levels and change in verbal recall scores.


CONCLUSIONS
In this small group of selected patients, the stress of hospital admission and cardiac catheterization may not have impaired the recall of neutral information. These preliminary results may indicate that whenever it is necessary to provide information to the patient it is advisable to do so before cardiac catheterization.
Verwey
Bas
B
Rijnstate Hospital Arnhem, P.O. Box 9555, 6800 TA Arnhem, The Netherlands. bverwey@wxs.nl
Derikx
Roy L E
RL
van Waarde
Jeroen A
JA
Essink
Guus
G
van Rooij
Iris A L M
IA
Zitman
Frans G
FG
D000368:Aged; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*
D006854:Hydrocortisone