Is SYNTAX Score Predictive of Atrial Fibrillation after On-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The relationship of synergy between percutaneous coronary intervention with taxus and cardiac surgery (SYNTAX) score and development of atrial fibrillation (AF) after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) has not been studied. Therefore, we assessed the relationship between the SYNTAX score and development of AF after CABG (POAF). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The medical records of consecutive patients, who underwent CABG surgery from January 2013 to September 2015, were retrospectively reviewed for the development of AF in the postoperative period. SYNTAX score, clinical and echocardiographic parameters were evaluated. The independent variables for the development of POAF were defined and their predictive values were measured. RESULTS: The study group consisted of 106 patients, of which 36 (34%) developed POAF. Age, hypertension, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure (HF), diabetes mellitus (DM), left atrial diameter, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet large cell ratio, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and SYNTAX score were identified as important variables for the development of POAF. However, in logistic regression analysis COPD (OR=19.313, 95% CI=2.416-154.407, p=0.005), HF (OR=28.362, 95% CI=2.034-395.515, p=0.013), SYNTAX score (OR=0.863, 95% CI=0.757-0.983, p=0.026), and DM (OR=20.770, 95% CI=3.791-113.799, p<0.001) appeared as independent variables predicting the development of POAF. In receiver operation characteristic analysis, SYNTAX score (≥22.25) (AUC=0.777, 95% CI=0.676-0.877, p<0.001) was one of the strongest predictors for the development of POAF. CONCLUSION: The SYNTAX score level was independently associated with the development of AF after CABG.