High Postoperative Serum Cortisol Level Is Associated with Increased Risk of Cognitive Dysfunction Early after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery: A Prospective Cohort Study

Stress response induced by surgery is proposed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of postoperative cognitive dysfunction.To investigate the association between postoperative serum cortisol level and occurrence of cognitive dysfunction early after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.Prospective cohort study.Two teaching hospitals.One hundred and sixth-six adult patients who were referred to elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery from March 2008 to December 2009.None.Neuropsychological tests were completed one day before and seven days after surgery. Cognitive dysfunction was defined using the same definition as used in the ISPOCD1-study. Blood samples were obtained in the first postoperative morning for measurement of serum cortisol concentration. Multivariate Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between serum cortisol level and occurrence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction. = 0.016).High serum cortisol level in the first postoperative morning was associated with increased risk of cognitive dysfunction seven days after coronary artery bypass graft surgery