Perioperative serum inflammatory response and the development of atrial fibrilation after coronary artery bypass surgery

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) remains the most common cardiac arrhythmia and is associated with an increase in both morbidity and mortality. Some data in both the surgical and non-surgical settings suggest that inflammation has a pivotal role in the onset and propagation of AF. As on pump coronary artery bypass surgery is associated with a significant inflammatory response and an incidence of AF between 11?40%, we decided to use this model to study if there was a potential association between perioperative response and the development of postoperative AF.1,2