Risk factors for atrial fibrillation after thoracic surgery

Objective To determine the risk factors for atrial fibrillation after lung resection. Patients and method Between January 2002 and December 2003, 149 patients underwent lung resection in our hospital. For all these patients, clinical, surgical, analytical, and oncological data were prospectively collected. The data were subjected to univariate analysis. Results The mean (SD) age of the 127 men (85.2%) and 22 women (14.8%) who underwent lung resection was 61.8 (12.3) years (range, 17–79 years). Atrial fibrillation was documented in 17 patients (11.4%). Mortality at 30 days was 8.1%. The following risk factors for atrial fibrillation were identified: age 70 years or older ( P P P P P Conclusions After lung resection, atrial fibrillation is a common complication that seems to be associated with old age, history of heart disease, operations for lung cancer, left pneumectomy, and right bilobectomy. The identification of these risk factors may encourage prospective studies that assess the use of antiarrhythmic drugs to prevent atrial fibrillation during chest surgery.