Central nervous risk factors in cardiac surgery

Serious complications involving the central nervous system in the course of cardiac surgical procedures have become rare. Nevertheless, CNS dysfunctions are still observed in a considerable number of patients, exceeding by far the number of those at risk from preoperative neurological hazards. The influence of extracorporeal circulation performed and of hypothermia on the physiology of cerebral autoregulation, as well as micro-embolization occurrences seem to be crucial factors in this context. The resulting regional or global posthypoxic changes in brain metabolism may lead to the manifestation of various neurological and psychiatric disorders in the postoperative course.