Does Off-pump Coronary Artery Bypass Reduce the Prevalence ofAtrial Fibrillation?

INTRODUCTION To examine whether or not off-pump CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Reduce) reduces the incidence of AF after cardiac surgery. METHODS The study was carried out in 939 consecutive coronary artery disease patients with sinus rhythm from which 383 patients underwent off-pump CABG, and 556 patients were operated through on-pump CABG. All patients were monitored postoperatively during intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Then, the incidence and predictive risk factors of post operative AF (POAF) in two groups were determined and compared with each other. RESULTS Overall, the mean age of the patients was 56.0±12.8 years with 234 patients (24.9%) being older than 65 years. POAF developed in 38 patients (9.9%) of the off-pump and in 93 patients (16.7%) of the on-pump CABG. There was significant difference between two groups when considering the incidence of POAF (P=0.002). Among preoperative risk factors, age>65 years had a significant association with the incidence of AF in both groups. This study also showed that most of the POAF cases converted to sinus rhythm after treatment. Moreover, these finding demonstrated that conversion to sinus rhythm is significantly more probable in off-pump group (P=0.006). CONCLUSION A reduced prevalence of POAF could be observed in patients with off-pump as compared with on-pump techniques. Furthermore, conversion to sinus rhythm in off-pump group was significantly more probable than on-pump group.