Atrial fibrillation and minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting: Risk factor analysis

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a frequent arrhythmia after conventional coronary artery bypass grafting. With the advent of minimally invasive technique for left internal mammary artery‐left anterior descending coronary artery (LIMA‐LAD) grafting, we analyzed the incidence and the risk factors of postoperative AF in this patient population. This prospective study involves all patients undergoing isolated LIMA‐LAD grafting with minimally invasive technique between January 1994 and June 2000. Twenty‐four possible risk factors for postoperative AF were entered into univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Postoperative AF occurred in 21 of the 90 patients (23.3%) analyzed. Double‐ or triple‐vessel disease was present in 12/90 patients (13.3%). On univariate analysis, right coronary artery disease (p