Cognitive function in patients undergoing coronary angiography

Objective To measure cognition in patients before and after coronary angiography. Design Prospective observational cohort study. Setting University teaching hospital. Patients 56 patients presenting for elective coronary angiography. Main outcome measures Computerised cognitive test battery administered before coronary angiography, before discharge from hospital and 7 days after discharge. A matched healthy control group was used as a comparator. Results When analysed by group, coronary angiography patients performed worse than matched controls at each time point. When the cognitive change was examined for each individual, of the 48 patients tested at discharge, 19 (39.6%) were classified as having a new cognitive dysfunction, and of 49 patients tested at day 7, six (12.2%) were classified as having a new cognitive dysfunction. Conclusions The results confirm that cognitive function is decreased in patients who have cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, coronary angiography may exacerbate this impaired cognition in some patients.