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Memory decline similar after heart surgery, cardiac catheterization
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Patients who underwent heart surgery or cardiac catheterization had similar amounts of memory decline, according to a study published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
“It was comforting to see that the differences in cognitive decline between the two heart procedures are small, even though one involves major surgery and the other — cardiac catheterization — is a minimally invasive procedure,” Elizabeth L. Whitlock, MD, MSc, assistant professor in the department of anesthesia at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a press release.
Researchers analyzed data from 3,105 patients from the Health and Retirement Study who underwent a cardiac procedure between 2000 and 2014. Patients underwent detailed interviews every 2 years by telephone or in person to collect information on economic, demographic, quality of life, health and cognitive factors. Surveys also were conducted before and after the procedure.
Patients were categorized as undergoing cardiac catheterization (n = 1,921; mean age at interview before procedure, 75 years; 54% men) or cardiac surgery (n = 1,184; mean age at interview before procedure, 75 years; 74% men).
The primary outcome of interest was change in memory score from the interview before the procedure to the interview after the procedure. A quantitative summary metric was used to assess memory. The secondary outcome of interest was the probability of subjective memory decline after the procedure.
Compared with patients who underwent cardiac catheterization, those who underwent cardiac surgery had minimal change in memory change from before the procedure to after the procedure (–0.021 memory units; 95% CI, –0.046 to 0.005).
This memory change was associated with approximately 4.6 months of cognitive aging. A change of –0.021 memory units was also linked to an absolute risk increase of 0.26% for the inability to manage finances independently (95% CI, 0.24-0.28). The absolute risk increase regarding the inability to manage medications independently also increased by 0.19% (95% CI, 0.18-0.21).
Cardiac surgery was not linked to subjective memory decline (adjusted OR = 0.93; 95% CI, 0.74-1.18).
“The population-level impact of cardiac surgery, compared with cardiac catheterization, on intermediate-term cognition, if it exists, is likely to be subtle,” Whitlock and colleagues wrote. – by Darlene Dobkowski
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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