Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T07:24:30.642Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Psychological Disturbances Associated with Open Heart Surgery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

N. Egerton
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery of the University of Southern California, the St. Vincent's Hospital and the Los Angeles County General Hospital
J. H. Kay
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery of the University of Southern California, the St. Vincent's Hospital and the Los Angeles County General Hospital

Extract

In our unit open heart surgery has provided sufficient stress to precipitate post-operative psychological disturbances in a high proportion of patients. In the year before this investigation was begun, 21 of 108 patients developed obvious mental abnormalities post-operatively. Blickenstorfer (1) reported post-operative psychosis in 3 per cent, of 300 patients subjected to open heart surgery, and the same incidence, 3 per cent., was reported by Bolton and Bailey (3) following closed and open heart surgery on 1,500 adult patients. The incidence of mental disturbance in our unit was so much higher that a detailed study of all patients (141) operated on in the unit during a 10-month period appeared to be indicated.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1964 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Blickenstorfer, E. (1958). Praxis, 47/8, 191.Google Scholar
2. Bliss, E. L., et al. (1959). Arch. Neurol. Psychiat., 80, 348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Bolton, H. E., and Bailey, C. P. (1956). Psychosomatic Aspects of Surgery (Ed.: Cantor, and Foxe, ). London.Google Scholar
4. Brozek, J., and Grande, F. (1961). “Abnormalities of neural function in presence of inadequate nutrition”, in: Handbook of Physiology (Ed.: McGown, G.), Vol. III, p. 1891. Printer: Waverly.Google Scholar
5. Bruetsch, W. L., and Williams, C. L. (1959). Amer. J. Psychiat., 116, 364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Church, G., and Marriot, H. J. L. (1959). Circulation, 20, 549.Google Scholar
7. Cohen, B. D., Rosenbaum, G., Dobie, S., and Gottlieb, J. S. (1959). J. nerv. ment. Dis., 129, 486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Davis, J. M., McCourt, W. F., and Solomon, P. (1960). Amer. J. Psychiat., 116, 889.Google Scholar
9. Egerton, N., Egerton, W. S., and Kay, J. H. (1963). Ann. Surg., 157, 366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Eysenck, H. J. (1943). Proc. Roy. Soc. Med., 36, 349.Google Scholar
11. Eysenck, H. J. (1944). Amer. J. Psychol., 57, 406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Grunbaum, H. V., Freedman, S. J., and Greenblatt, M. (1960). Amer. J. Psychiat., 116, 878.Google Scholar
13. Hemmes, E. M. (1958). J. ment. Sci., 104, 389.Google Scholar
14. Kaplan, S. M. (1955). Psychosom. Med., 18, 221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15. Kay, J. H., and Gaertner, R. A. (1957). Surg. Forum, 7, 267.Google Scholar
16. Kay, J. H. and Anderson, R. M. (1958). J. thorac. Surg., 36, 463.Google Scholar
17. Kroger, W. S. (1959). J. Amer. med. Ass., 172, 625.Google Scholar
18. Krystal, H. (1959). Amer. J. Psychiat., 116, 137.Google Scholar
19. Liberson, W. T. (1960). Ibid., 116, 584.Google Scholar
20. Lown, B. (1960). Amer. J. Cardiol., 6, 309.Google Scholar
21. Luby, E. D., Frohman, C. E., Grisell, J. L., Lenzo, J. E., and Gottlieb, J. S. (1960). Psychosom. Med., 22, 192.Google Scholar
22. Marmer, M.J. (1959). J. Amer. med. Ass., 171, 152.Google Scholar
23. Meyer, B. C., and Blacker, R. C. (1961). N.Y. St. J. Med., 61, 1255.Google Scholar
24. Neher, A. (1961). Electroenceph. Clin. Neurophysiol., 13, 449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25. Oswald, I. (1959). J. ment. Sci., 105, 269.Google Scholar
26. Oswald, I. and Berger, R. (1962). Ibid., 108, 457.Google Scholar
27. Roth, M. (1959). Proc. Roy. Soc. Med., 52, 587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28. Taylor, S. W. (1960). N.Z. med. J., 59, 432.Google Scholar
29. Tinterton, M. (1960). Amer. Surg., 26, 732.Google Scholar
30. Wallace, G., and Coppolino, C. A. (1960). N.Y. State J. Med., 60, 3258.Google Scholar
31. Zaks, M. S. (1959). Cardiology, 3, 163.Google Scholar
32. Ziskind, E., Jones, H., Filente, W., and Goldberg, J. (1960). Amer. J. Psychiat., 116, 893.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.