Abstract
Background: We aimed to determine whether obesity and metabolic syndrome are independent risk factors in postoperative atrial fibrillation and if so, to determine the magnitude of their effect. We also analyzed the effect of postoperative atrial fibrillation on cardiac surgical complications.
Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 756 patients undergone coronary bypass surgery between June 2010 and September 2017 in our clinic. The cases with and without atrial fibrillation were evaluated in terms of postoperative complications, length of hospitalization and mortality rates. The first endpoint in the study was the detection of atrial fibrillation while the second was the discharge time.
Results: In the study, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity between the ages of 56-78 were found to affect the development of postoperative atrial fibrillation 2.46, 2.3, 1.6, and 1.65 times, respectively. In cases with postoperative atrial fibrillation, infection and stroke were 1.45 and 8.85 times more frequent, respectively. Patients with metabolic syndrome were found to have 31% more prolonged hospitalization, 17% more frequent infection, and 39.1% more frequent hypertension. Obese cases had 23.5% more prolonged stay.
Conclusion: In the study, obesity was found to be an independent risk factor for postoperative atrial fibrillation. Patients with metabolic syndrome and obesity who developed postoperative atrial fibrillation had a higher rate of stroke and a longer period of hospitalization. If the causes and mechanisms of postoperative atrial fibrillation are identified in planned cardiovascular interventions, we believe that the cost of hospitalization and morbidity reduces.

Key words: Metabolic syndrome, obesity, atrial fibrillation, coronary bypass grafting, postoperative evaluations