Background: New‐onset postoperative atrial fibrillation (poAF) complicates approximately 20‐60% of all cardiac surgical procedures and is associated with an increased periprocedural mortality and morbitity, prolonged hospital stay, increased costs, and worse long‐term survival. Unfortunately multiple advances in surgery and perioperative care over the last two decades have not led to a reduction in the incidence of poAF or associated complications in the daily clinical practice.Methods: A narrative review of the available literature was performed.Results: An extensive review of the pathophysiology of poAF following cardiac surgery, clinical, and procedural risk‐factors is provided, as well as prophylactic measures and treatment.Conclusion: Multiple strategies to prevent and manage poAF following heart surgery already exist. Our hope is that this review will facilitate more rigorous testing of prevention strategies, implementation of prophylaxis regimens as well as optimal treatment of this common and serious complication.

Unplanned readmissions after heart valve surgery are common, and constitute a significant burden for the patient and the health care system. The objective was to investigate the effect of individualised follow-up after open heart valve surgery on a composite endpoint of first unplanned cardiac hospital readmission or all-cause mortality within 180 days of discharge. The study is a prospective cohort study comparing the composite endpoint in patients undergoing early, individualised and intensified follow-up after heart valve surgery with a propensity matched historical control group. A total of 308 consecutive patients were enrolled in the prospective cohort study, 980 consecutive patients comprised the control group. The propensity matched group consisted of n = 300 (intervention) and n = 580 (controls). Time to first event was analysed using uni- and multivariable Cox proportional hazard analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were constructed to assess the probability of survival without readmission. After 180 days, the proportion of patients experiencing the composite endpoint was significantly lower in the intervention group compared with the controls for the overall, unmatched population (23% vs. 38%; HR 0.55; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.73; P < 0.001). The effect did not change in the propensity matched population (HR 0.57; 95% CI 0.43;0.75, P < 0.001). The difference was related to reduction in readmission rates, whereas death rates were similar in intervention and control group (1.6% vs. 1.8%). An intervention consisting of early, individualised and intensified follow-up after open heart valve surgery reduced the risk of a composite endpoint of first, unplanned cardiac hospital readmission or all-cause mortality within 180 days.

This systematic review and meta-analysis sought i) to provide an overview of the incidence of delirium following open cardiac surgery and ii) to investigate how incidences of delirium are associated with different assessment tools. A systematic search of studies investigating delirium following open cardiac surgery were conducted in Medline (Ovid), EMBASE, PsycINFO, CiNAHL and the Cochrane Database. Only studies with patients diagnosed or screened with a validated tool were included. Studies published from 2005 to 2021 were included in the meta-analysis. Of 7,126 individual studies retrieved, 106 met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis, hereof 31% of high quality. The weighted pooled incidence of delirium following open cardiac surgery across all studies was 23% (95% CI 20-26%), however we found a considerable heterogeneity (I² = 99%), which could not be explained by subgroups or further sensitivity analyses. The most commonly applied screening tool for delirium is CAM/CAM-ICU. The lowest estimates of delirium were found by applying the Delirium Observation Scale (incidence 14%, 95% CI 8-20%), and the highest estimates in studies using “other” screening tools (Organic Brain Symptom Scale, Delirium Symptom Interview) pooled incidence of 43%, (95% CI 19 - 66%), however, only two studies applied these. Delirium following open cardiac surgery remains a complication with a high incidence of overall 23%, when applying a validated tool for screening or diagnosis. Nevertheless, this systematic review and meta-analyses highlight the significant inconsistency in current evidence regarding assessment tools and regimens. Prospero CRD42020215519