Preoperative statin therapy does not reduce cognitive dysfunction after cardiopulmonary bypass

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if patients receiving statin therapy before coronary artery bypass grafting surgery would have less cognitive dysfunction after cardiopulmonary bypass as a consequence of a diminished inflammatory response. Design: Retrospective observational study of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. Setting: Referral center for cardiothoracic surgery at a university hospital. Participants: Four hundred forty patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Thirty-five percent of patients received statins in the preoperative period. Multivariable analysis revealed no effect of preoperative statin therapy on cognitive function (p = 0.67). Post hoc analysis revealed that statin therapy at hospital discharge was associated with less improvement in cognitive performance at 6 weeks after surgery (p = 0.011). No significant differences were found between statin therapy groups in either range or maximum value of any of the cytokines (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Preoperative statin therapy did not decrease the inflammatory response to cardiopulmonary bypass or the cognitive dysfunction commonly seen after cardiac surgery.