F. Nurozler et al., ATRIAL-FIBRILLATION AFTER CORONARY-ARTERY BYPASS-SURGERY - PREDICTORSAND THE ROLE OF MGSO4 REPLACEMENT, Journal of cardiac surgery, 11(6), 1996, pp. 421-427
Background: Supraventricular arrhythmias continue to complicate the po
stoperative course of patients undergoing myocardial revascularization
. The aim of the study was to identify factors associated with atrial
fibrillation (AF) and to determine the efficacy of postoperative magne
sium sulphate (MgSO4) replacement on the incidence of AF after coronar
y artery bypass grafting (CABG) operation. Methods: Fifty patients und
ergoing CABG were studied prospectively, Consenting patients with good
left ventricular function and without any documented arrhythmias were
randomly divided into two groups of 25 patients each in a double-blin
d fashion. The clinical characteristics of both groups were similar. I
n the study group, 200 mEq MgSO4 was given for the first 5 postoperati
ve days, in the control group, placebo was given instead of MgSO4. Res
ults: Five (20%) patients in the control group and one (4%) patient in
the MgSO4 group experienced AF. There was no significant relationship
between the development of AF and the following variables: age; sex;
diabetes mellitus; hypertension; previous myocardial infarction; smoki
ng; extension of coronary artery disease; aortic cross-clamping time;
number of grafts; cardiopulmonary bypass time; postperative pericardit
is; and anemia, Conclusion: The use of MgSO4 in early postoperative pe
riod is effective in reducing the incidence of AF after CABG in patien
ts with good ventricular function.