Postoperative cognitive dysfunction after noncardiac surgery: effects of metabolic syndrome.

Purpose: Vascular risk factors, including metabolic syndrome, are known to contribute to the development of cognitive dysfunction. We tested the hypothesis that patients with metabolic syndrome are more likely to develop cognitive dysfunction after noncardiac surgery.

Methods: Age- and education-balanced patients (n = 60) undergoing elective noncardiac surgery with and without metabolic syndrome and 30 nonsurgical controls were enrolled.