Neurologic complications of coronary artery bypass grafting: case-control study.

In a retrospective case-control study, we identified 18 patients who had neurologic symptoms associated with coronary artery bypass grafting, or 1.3% of all patients who had this operation. Cerebral infarction and anoxic encephalopathy accounted for almost all the complications. The overall mortality was 33%, higher among those with an intraoperative compared with a postoperative deficit. Prior cerebrovascular risk factors as well as intraoperative hypotension were no more prevalent in patients with complications than in age-matched controls who had the same operation.