Background
Although postoperative cognitive dysfunction is a relevant complication after surgery, assessment for the condition is not routine in clinical practice.
Objective
The aim of this study was to compare the use of screening versus brief domain-specific cognitive tests in assessing long-term cognitive dysfunction after concomitant aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting.
Methods
In this observational prospective study, we evaluated 70 patients preoperatively and after 1, 6, and 12 months using 2 screening tests (Mini-Mental State Examination and Clock Drawing Test) and 2 brief domain-specific cognitive tests (Trail Making Test to evaluate attention and executive function, and Semantic and Phonological Tests to evaluate verbal fluency).
Results
The brief domain-specific cognitive tests detected significant postoperative worsening in performances (up to 19% on the Trail Making Test and 15.4% on verbal fluency tests at 6 months). Postoperative mild attention/executive dysfunction or inferior normal performance was detected with the maximums being seen at 6 months (44.6%, P < .001). Performances on screening tests did not significantly change during the study period.
Conclusions
A brief domain-specific cognitive evaluation could be routinely implemented in perioperative care practice to detect postoperative cognitive dysfunction.
These preliminary results suggest that the newly developed FCSRT version B is equivalent to version A in the main variables tested. Further studies are necessary to ensure interchangeability between versions. We provide normative data for the new version.
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