Introduction
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is frequent after any cardiac surgery, but
evidence suggests it may have no significant impact on survival if sinus
rhythm (SR) is effectively restored early after the onset of the
arrhythmia. In contrast, management of preoperative AF is often
overlooked during or after cardiac surgery despite several proposed
protocols. This study sought to evaluate the impact of preoperative AF
on mortality in patients undergoing isolated surgical aortic valve
replacement (AVR).