Women and patients with atrial fibrillation accompanied by low cardiac output syndrome are at higher risk for stroke after cardiac surgery, which often occurs after initial recovery.
Most strokes after cardiac surgery occurred after initial uneventful recovery from surgery. Women were at higher risk to suffer early and delayed perioperative strokes. Atrial fibrillation had no impact on postoperative stroke rate unless it was accompanied by low cardiac output syndrome.
Hogue et al. (Tue,) studied this question.