A study from Duke University,
published in the New England Journal of Medicine in
February, 2001, confirms what many doctors have suspected, but have been
reluctant to discuss with their patients: A substantial proportion of patients
after coronary artery bypass surgery experience measurable impairment in their
mental capabilities.
In the surgeons’ locker room, this
phenomenon (not publicized for obvious reasons) has been referred to as "pump head."
In the Duke study, 261 patients having bypass surgery were tested for
their cognitive capacity (i.e. mental ability) at four different times: before
surgery, six weeks, six months, and five years after bypass surgery.
Patients were deemed to have significant impairment if they had a 20%
decrease in test scores.
This study had three major findings
· * Cognitive impairment does indeed occur
after bypass surgery. This study should move the existence of this phenomenon
from the realm of locker room speculation to the realm of fact.
· * The incidence of cognitive impairment was greater than most doctors
would have predicted. In this study, 42% of patients had at least a 20% drop in
test scores after surgery.
· * The impairment was not temporary, as many doctors have claimed (or at
least hoped).
You can read more about this study
using this link: http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/bypasssurgery/a/pumphead.htm
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