Predictors of postoperative atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery

We read the article written by Geçmen et al. (1) titled “SYNTAX score predicts postoperative atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing on-pump isolated coronary artery bypass grafting surgery” published in Anatol J Cardiol 2016;16:655-61 with great interest. In their study, the authors reported that there was an independent association between age, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and SYNTAX score in predicting postoperative atrial fibrillation. We would like to emphasize some important points about this well-written study. It has been demonstrated that volume overload could increase postoperative atrial fibrillation incidence by elevating intraatrial pressure (2). It has also been reported that increased cross-clamp and cardiopulmonary bypass time could increase risk for postoperative atrial fibrillation (3). We think that intraoperative factors should be taken into consideration when evaluating these patients