The Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Central DuPage Hospital, Winfield, Illinois.
Atrial arrhythmias are a common and serious complication of cardiac surgical procedures.
Reports describing pericardiac neurogenic tissue led us to hypothesize that removal of the aortic fat pad could cause an autonomic imbalance and contribute to atrial arrhythmias following cardiac surgery. The aortic fat pad was either left intact or removed. The incidence of de novo atrial arrhythmias during the patient's hospital stay was tabulated. Neither the pump status nor the cross product of pump status by fat pad status were significant in this pilot study. Retaining the aortic fat pad during coronary artery bypass surgery is correlated with a decreased incidence of postoperative atrial arrhythmias.