Incidence of atrial fibrillation and risk factors analyzing in 126 cases of aortic surgery

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to determine the current incidence of atrial fibrillation postaortic repair surgery and further identify its clinical predictors. Patients and Methods: Over a 17-month period starting on September 1, 2016, and ending on January 31, 2018, diverse types of aortic surgery were performed on 126 consecutive patients (age range, 8–75 years and median age, 43 years) with aneurysm (n = 67) or dissection (n = 59) of the ascending, arch, thoracic, or abdominal aorta. Totally 41 patients received operations on an emergency basis because of acute Type A dissection. Potential predictors of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) were estimated by a logistic regression model. Results: The incidence of postoperative new onset of atrial fibrillation (AF) was 26.2% (n = 33). Patients who developed POAF were more likely to be of advanced age (51 ± 16 vs. 40 ± 14, P < 0.01), and female patients were more likely to develop POAF compared with male patients (48.5% vs. 26.9%, P = 0.02). Patients with cardiac dysfunction (39.4% vs. 10.8%, P < 0.01), and those who underwent operations on the ascending aorta (48.5% vs. 29.0%, P = 0.04) were also more likely to develop POAF. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that only advanced age and cardiac dysfunction were independent predictors of POAF (P = 0.029, odds ratio [OR] = 1.01, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.001–0.012; P = 0.003, OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 0.103–0.487). Conclusions: The prevalence of POAF is not rare in terms of patients undergoing aortic repair surgeries. Perioperative heart failure and increasing age may be correlating risk factors.

Keywords

• Aortic surgery
• heart failure
• postoperative atrial fibrillation
• risk factors