Protection against postoperative atrial fibrillation via antiplatelet aggregation induced by remote ischemic preconditioning during off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.

Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG) is associated with increased platelet aggregation and a higher incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF). Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) has been reported as a promising intervention to mitigate these adverse outcomes. Consecutive patients with cytochrome P450 family 2 subfamily C member 19 (CYP2C19) loss-of-function (LOF) genotype who underwent isolated OPCABG were randomly assigned to receive intermittent ischemia-reperfusion applied to the arm (RIPC group) or not intervention (control group). RIPC was performed after induction of anesthesia using three cycles of 5-min inflation separated by 5-min deflation. The primary outcome was the cumulative incidence of POAF within the first postoperative week, assessed by the intention-to-treat analysis. Secondary outcomes included POAF burden, biochemical indicators, and clinical trajectory. Among the 220 patients available for the primary endpoint analysis, POAF occurred in 27 of 109 patients (24.8%) in the RIPC group versus 46 of 111 patients (41.4%) in the control group (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.542, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.342 to 0.858; P = 0.01). The RIPC group also showed significantly lower values than the control group for AF burden (5.1% [IQR 2.3-11.3%] vs. 8.3% [IQR 4.1-19.1%]; P = 0.019), arachidonic acid- and adenosine diphosphate-stimulated platelet aggregation, inflammatory and prothrombotic index, and intensive care unit length of stay. In CYP2C19 LoF carriers, administration of RIPC favorably reduced the incidence and burden of POAF within 1 week after OPCABG, attenuated platelet aggregation and systemic inflammation, and shortened the duration of intensive care unit stay.