Cardiac surgery for patients with schizophrenia: clinical experience of six patients

PURPOSE: The incidence of schizophrenia in Japan is 0.7%, which is similar to the worldwide incidence. The mortality rate of patients with schizophrenia is reported to be higher than that of the general population, and cardiovascular disease is high among the causes of death. Hence, strategies for cardiovascular surgery for patients with schizophrenia are necessary. METHODS: We studied six patients with schizophrenia (five males, one female) who underwent cardiac surgery in our hospital between April 2008 and December 2019. RESULT: The mean age was 63.6 years. The surgical procedures were coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) (n = 4), CABG concomitant with valve procedures (n = 1), and resection of myxoma (n = 1). There were no major cardiovascular complications and no other fatal complications. The mean observation period was 1510.6 ± 1430.1 (140–4068) days, the mean post-operative hospital stay was 17.8 ± 3.5 (13–22) days, and there was no mortality within 30 days after surgery. During the observation period, one patient died. The survival rate was 83.3% at 1, 3, and 5 years. CONCLUSION: Cardiac surgery for patients with schizophrenia is possible with careful monitoring of indications and perioperative management.