Patients with postoperative atrial fibrillation have a doubled cardiovascular mortality.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the impact of postoperative AF on late mortality and cause of death in CABG patients.


METHODS
All CABG patients without preoperative AF surgically treated between January 1, 1997 and June 30, 2000 were included (N = 1419). Altogether, 419 patients (29.5%) developed postoperative AF. After a median follow-up of 8.0 years, survival data were obtained, causes of death were compared and Cox proportional hazard analysis was used to determine predictors of late mortality.


RESULTS
The total mortality was 140 deaths/419 patients (33.4%) in postoperative AF patients and 191 deaths/1 000 patients (19.1%) in patients without AF. Death due to cerebral ischemia (2.6% vs. 0.5%), myocardial infarction (7.4% vs. 3.0%), sudden death (2.6% vs. 0.9%), and heart failure (6.7% vs. 2.7%) was more common among postoperative AF patients. Postoperative AF was an age-independent risk indicator for late mortality with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.56 (95% confidence interval 1.23-1.98).


CONCLUSIONS
Postoperative AF is an age-independent risk factor for late mortality in CABG patients, explained by an increased risk of cardiovascular death.
Ahlsson
Anders
A
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Anesthesiology, Orebro University Hospital, Orebro, Sweden. anders.ahlsson@orebroll.se
Bodin
Lennart
L
Fengsrud
Espen
E
Englund
Anders
A
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality*; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome