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A decline in mental
function immediately after heart bypass surgery may be an
indication that further intellectual decline will occur
down the road.
When a vessel that
delivers blood to the heart becomes blocked, one of the options
for restoring blood flow is bypass surgery. The operation
involves taking veins, and sometimes arteries, from other
parts of the body and grafting them from the aorta to the
coronary artery to bypass the blocked vessel.
The odds of surviving
bypass surgery have improved since the operation was introduced,
but the risk of experiencing a decline in mental function
afterwards has remained steady since the 1980s. Signs of this
decline may include trouble following directions, mood swings
and short tempers.
Many doctors have
downplayed the importance of any changes in intellectual
abilities that occur after bypass, which can affect
50% to 80% of people who
have the surgery, because the decline often appears to
be temporary.
But even though
decline in mental function is often temporary after bypass
surgery, it may predict an increased risk of intellectual
decline several years later. Five years after surgery, 42%
of bypass patients had experienced a decline in intellectual
abilities.
The New England
Journal of Medicine 2001; 344: 395-402,451-452
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