• Andreas Böning, Anno Diegeler, Michael Hilker, Michael Zacher, Wilko Reents, Gloria Faerber, Torsten Doenst, and GOPCABE investigators.
• Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital Giessen, Giessen, Germany andreas.boening@chiru.med.uni-giessen.de.
• Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2015 Jan 1;20(1):74-8.

ObjectivesPatients undergoing coronary bypass grafting (CABG) are at higher risk if they suffer from atrial fibrillation (AF). It was suggested that performing CABG without the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (off-pump) would reduce perioperative risk. We assessed the influence of preoperative AF on outcome in a randomized cohort of patients above the age of 75 undergoing either on-pump or off-pump CABG.MethodsThe German Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass grafting in the Elderly trial, a randomized, controlled multicentre trial conducted at 12 German institutions, enrolled 2303 patients between 2008 and 2011. The presence of AF was recorded at admission and discharge. There was no record on the rhythm status during hospital stay.ResultsAF at admission was present in 5% in the on-pump (121/1158) and 5% in the off-pump (112/1145) group. The number of patients with AF at discharge was not different between these two groups (10% on pump, 10% off pump). As expected, AF patients had worse preoperative conditions, which had a negative impact on outcome: The combined end-point of death, infarction, stroke, dialysis and revascularization occurred more often (13 vs 8%, P = 0.008) and 30-day mortality was significantly higher (6 vs 2%, P = 0.003) in AF patients. However, the operative technique used for CABG did not affect these outcome parameters.ConclusionsAF at admission is a significant risk factor for elderly patients undergoing coronary bypass grafting. However, this risk is not altered by performing bypass grafting off pump.© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

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