Evaluation of the prevalence and predictors of right ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery.

Background: With the increase in the number of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgeries, the concern about complications after it has also increased. RV diastolic dysfunction (RVDD) is one of the post-CABG complications, and in this study, we intend to investigate its frequency and predictors.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, eighty CABG candidate adult patients were included. A history of previous heart surgery or arrhythmia were the main exclusion criteria. After recording demographic and clinical information, echocardiography of the right ventricle (RV) was performed the day before the surgery and seven days later. The functional parameters were obtained according to the Guidelines for the Echocardiographic Assessment of the Right Heart in Adults.

Results: Eighty patients with an average age of 60.25 ± 8.93 years participated in the study. Most patients were male (72.5%). Thirteen patients had RVDD before CABG (30.8% grade I and 69.2% grade II). All these 13 patients had RVDD grade II after surgery (P=0.046). Among 67 patients with normal RV function before CABG, RV function was normal in only 20 patients (29.9%) after CABG. The incidence of grade I and grade II post-CABG RVDD (post-coronary artery bypass grafting right ventricle diastolic dysfunction) was 11.9% and 58.2%, respectively (P<0.001). Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that there was no association between pre-CABG variables, neither demographic nor echocardiographic, and the occurrence of RVDD after CABG.

Conclusion: CABG surgery is associated with a high incidence of RVDD, which cannot be predicted before surgery. The short-term and long-term consequences of this complication are still unknown.