Determinants of postoperative atrial fibrillation: A retrospective evaluation of postoperative atrial fibrillation in cardiac surgery

Atrial fibrillation is the most common postoperative arrhythmia and is associated with increased length of stay, cost, morbidity and mortality. The incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation for noncardiac, nonthoracic surgeries ranges from 0.4% to 26%. The incidence increases to 20%–50% in cardiac surgery, occurring in approximately 30% of isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), approximately 40% of isolated valve surgeries and up to 50% of CABG plus valve surgeries. Our aim was to identify risk factors that may predispose patients to postoperative atrial fibrillation and compare the efficacy of previously developed prediction tools to a new bedside prediction tool. We sought to develop a bedside screening tool using 4 easily identifiable variables: body mass index, age, congestive heart failure and hypertension (BACH). We predicted that our model would compare similarly to previously developed and validated prediction models but would be easier to use.

Predictive Roles of Right Coronary Artery Disease Severity and Systemic Immune Inflammation Index in Predicting Atrial Fibrillation After Coronary Bypass Operations in Patients with Right Coronary Artery Disease

Background: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (PoAF) is observed at a rate of 25-40% in the postoperative period after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and can increase mortality, morbidity, and treatment costs. Inflammation and coronary artery disease (CAD) severity are important parameters to predict PoAF. Methods: Patients with right coronary artery (RCA) disease who underwent isolated CABG operation between January 1, 2017 and April 15, 2020, were included in the study retrospectively. Demographic features, preoperative total Gensini score (TGS), right coronary Gensini score (RCGS), systemic immune inflammation index (SII), and postoperative characteristics were recorded. Results: A total of 283 patients were included in the study. Those who did not develop PoAF were included in Group 1 (N = 211, median age=60 (33-82) years), and those who did were included in Group 2 (N = 72, median age=68 (42-85) years). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups, in terms of gender, hypercholesterolemia, cerebrovascular event/trans-ischemic attack history, body mass index, diabetes mellitus, smoking, beta blocker/angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker use, ejection fraction and left atrium diameters. As a result of multivariate analysis, advanced age (OR: 2.816 CI 95%: 1.687-3.498 P < .001), hypertension (OR:0.896, CI 95%: 0.578-0.965, P = .022), SII (OR: 1.548 CI 95%: 1.265-2.896, P = .003), TGS (OR: 1.235, CI 95%: 1.096-2.424, P = .012), and RCGS (OR: 2.112, CI 95%: 1.665-4.156, P < .001) values were determined as independent predictors for predicting postoperative atrial fibrillation. Conclusion: In this study, we showed that RCGS and SII values were independent predictors of PoAF after CABG operations in patients with right coronary artery disease.

Influence of Dexmedetomidine on Post-operative Atrial Fibrillation After Cardiac Surgery: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Previous clinical studies and meta-analysis evaluating the influence of dexmedetomidine on postoperative atrial fibrillation showed inconsistent results. We performed an updated meta-analysis to evaluate the influence of dexmedetomidine on incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery.Methods: Randomized controlled trials that evaluated the potential influence of dexmedetomidine on the incidence of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery were obtained by search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane's Library databases from inception to April 12, 2021. A random-effects model incorporating the potential publication bias was used to pool the results. Influences of patient or study characteristics on the efficacy of dexmedetomidine on atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery were evaluated by meta-regression and subgroup analyses.Results: Fifteen studies with 2,733 patients were included. Pooled results showed that dexmedetomidine significantly reduced the incidence of atrial fibrillation compared to control (OR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.55–0.94, p = 0.02) with mild heterogeneity (I2 = 26%). Subgroup analysis showed that dexmedetomidine significantly reduced the incidence of atrial fibrillation in studies from Asian countries (OR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.26–0.66, p &lt; 0.001), but not in those from non-Asian countries (OR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.71–1.10, p = 0.27; p for subgroup difference = 0.004). Meta-regression analysis showed that the mean age and proportion of male patients may modify the influence of dexmedetomidine on POAF (coefficient = 0.028 and 0.021, respectively, both p &lt; 0.05). Subgroup analysis further showed that Dex was associated with reduced risk of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery in studies with younger patients (mean age ≤ 61 years, OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.28–0.69, p = 0.004) and smaller proportion of males (≤74%, OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.36–0.83, p = 0.005), but not in studies with older patients or larger proportion of males (p for subgroup difference = 0.02 and 0.04).Conclusions: Current evidence supports that perioperative administration of dexmedetomidine may reduce the risk of incidental atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery, particularly in Asians.