Irregular heart rhythm during surgery tied to stroke risk

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Irregular heart rhythm during surgery tied to stroke risk

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A large new U.S. study finds that people who developed irregular heart rhythms during hospital stays for surgery were more likely to have a stroke later on. Although the heart flutters and fibrillation may result from short term stress associated with having surgery, they could also be a sign of undiagnosed vulnerability to stroke and should be heeded, researchers say. “We want patients and clinicians to be aware that having (atrial fibrillation) after surgery does have long term implications and has to be followed up on after surgery is over,” the study’s senior author Dr. Hooman Kamel said. Kamel, from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, and his team found the risk of strokes among people who developed irregular heart rhythms while hospitalized for surgeries unrelated to their hearts was about double the risk of people who didn’t develop the condition.

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