Cognitive changes following aortic reconstruction

Michael O'Boyle, Harwant S. Gill, Hasmig S. Link, Erin E. Forest, Norman F. Paradise, David H. Stubbs, Douglas B. Dorner, Robert L. Kollmorgen, Donald W. Moorman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

Abstract

A symbol/language integration task and a memory scanning task were administered to two groups of surgical patients (aortic reconstruction and laparoscopy) and to aged-matched nonsurgical controls, 1 week prior to surgery, on the day of discharge from the hospital, and 2 and 8 weeks after discharge. In patients undergoing aortic reconstruction, a significant impairment of cognitive processing (as detected preoperatively) was accentuated at time of discharge. Significant improvement in performance on both tasks was found, however, in the 2- and 8-week postdischarge sessions. In fact, during these later sessions, performance on the memory scanning task became equivalent to that of control participants. Thus, pre- and postoperative impairments in patients undergoing repair of an aortic aneurysm do not appear to be the consequence of short-term memory loss per se, but may be related to a more general slowing of the information processing system.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)313-326
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities
Volume11
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999

Keywords

  • Aortic reconstruction
  • Cognitive changes
  • Memory
  • Symbol/language integration

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Cognitive changes following aortic reconstruction'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this