Affiliations: Medanta Institute of Critical Care and Anaesthesiology, Medanta The Medicity, Gurgaon, India | [x] Neurospectroscopy and Neuroimaging Laboratory, National Brain Research Center, Manesar, Gurgaon, India | [y] Department of Neurosciences, Psychiatric and Anesthesiological Sciences, University of Messina, Policlinico G. Martino, Messina, Italy
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Dr. Yatin Mehta, Department of Cardiac Anaesthesia, Medanta (The Medicity), Sector 38, Gurgaon, India. Tel.: +91 124 4141414; Fax: +91 124 4834111; E-mail: yatinmehta@hotmail.com; Yatin.mehta@medanta.org.
Abstract: Both short and long term cognitive changes occur after cardiac surgery but the pathophysiology of these neurobehavioral changes remain incompletely understood. The cause of cognitive decline is most likely multifactorial and probably represents a complex interaction between cerebral microemboli, global cerebral hypoperfusion, inflammation, and genetic susceptibility. The problem of cognitive decline after cardiac surgery continues to increase as the surgical population becomes older and has more prevalent comorbid diseases. A better understanding of the etiology is essential to finding new preventive strategies as no definitive therapy exists for cognitive dysfunction.
