Preoperative pulmonary status and postoperative extubation outcome of patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine whether factors associated with impaired pulmonary function were predictive of postoperative extubation outcome (extubation according to protocol or delayed extubation) in a sample of patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery. Forty-seven patients were assessed before surgery and after postoperative extubation using a noninvasive assessment technique. Positive preoperative affect was the sole factor associated with extubation outcome in this sample of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Those who were extubated according to hospital protocol had significantly higher positive affect scores (p = 0.02) than did those who were not. Subjects with delayed extubations had a greater incidence of postoperative atelectasis (p = 0.02). They also had significantly longer stays in the surgical intensive care unit (p = 0.01) and the hospital (p = 0.05). Preoperative pulmonary function, age, sex, and history of smoking were not associated with postoperative extubation outcome. 