Conclusions Our meta- analysis indicates that vitamin C may prevent post-operative atrial fibrillation in some countries outside of the USA , and it may also shorten the duration of hospital stay and ICU stay of cardiac surgery patients .
Vitamin C is an essential nutrient that is safe and inexpensive .
Background Atrial fibrillation ( AF ) , a common arrhythmia contributing substantially to cardiac morbidity , is associated with oxidative stress and , being an antioxidant , vitamin C might influence it .
The protective effects of high-dose ascorbic acid on myocardium against reperfusion injury during and after cardiopulmonary bypass.
The protective effects of high-dose ascorbic acid ( 250 mg/kg ) on the myocardium were observed in 85 patients undergoing Cardiopulmonary Bypass ( CPB ) .  The changes in serum Malonyldialdehyde ( MDA ) . Creatine Phosphokinase ( CPK ) , Creatine Phosphokinase isozyme ( CPK-MB ) and Lactic Dehydrogenase ( LDH ) in group B ( n = 45 , receiving ascorbic acid ) were lower ( p < 0.05 ) than in group A ( n = 40 , no ascorbic acid ) during and after CPB . The MDA remained at a higher level two days postoperatively ; CPK and CPK-MB , the sensitive and specific reflectors of myocardial injury , recovered very slowly in the control group ( A ) after the operation . The hearts in all the patients of group B resuscitated automatically intraoperatively while five cases ( 12.5 % ) needed defibrillation in group A. The cardiac index ( CI ) measured in ICU in group B was higher than in group A ( p < 0.05 ) . The patients needed shorter ICU and hospital stays in group B than in group A. The results indicate that ascorbic acid can act as a scavenger of free radicals to decrease the peroxidation of the lipids present in the cell membrane and remove the radicals to protect the myocardium from ischemia-reperfusion injury effectively during and after open-heart operation
Conclusions Our meta- analysis indicates that vitamin C may prevent post-operative atrial fibrillation in some countries outside of the USA , and it may also shorten the duration of hospital stay and ICU stay of cardiac surgery patients .
Vitamin C is an essential nutrient that is safe and inexpensive .
Background Atrial fibrillation ( AF ) , a common arrhythmia contributing substantially to cardiac morbidity , is associated with oxidative stress and , being an antioxidant , vitamin C might influence it .