Neurologic assessment and cardiac surgery.

Cerebral injury remains a significant complication of cardiac surgery. This complication is evaluated by clinical means that include a neurologic examination. In this report, the most important components of this type of evaluation are described. The neurologic complications of cardiac surgery can be determined by comparing structured preoperative and postoperative clinical evaluations. The neurologic examination must include a mental state examination, examination of cranial nerves, motor, sensory, and cerebellar systems, examination of gait and station, and deep tendon and primitive reflexes. The purpose of this report is to discuss the relevance of the neurologic examination in the assessment of cerebral injury after cardiac surgery, review the components of a structured neurologic examination, and explore the role of "quantitative" stroke scales as a research tool.