Preoperative Carotid Duplex Scanning in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Exclusion criteria included preoperative atrial fibrillation (AF), postoperative AF, antiarrhythmic treatment (other than beta-blockers), off-pump CABG, preoperative chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emergency surgeries, redo surgery, bleeding and/or tamponade revision, chronic kidney failure, and combined (other than CEA) surgeries. Ultrasonic examination of the neck was performed using a commercial Doppler device (GE Logic S6, USA) with a linear probe 8.0-12.0 MHz to determine the presence of an atheroma or occlusion blood flow involving the carotid arteries bilaterally. Patients with significant CAS (≥50% stenosis) and those with 4 mm, arteriotomy was primarily closed in all patients.