NOAHS Study: Testing Vascular Hypothesis of Post-CABG depression

The number of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery patients affected by depression ranges between 30% and 40% of all cases.¹ In this video, Dr Hochang Lee discusses the Neuropsychiatric Outcomes After Heart Surgery (NOAHS) study and implications for treatment and research of post-CABG depression. Dr Lee is Director of the Psychological Medicine Service at Yale New Haven Hospital and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.

Take home points:

(1) Depression is associated with higher morbidity and mortality among CABG surgery patients

(2) Screening and treatment of depression among CABG surgery patients could lead to improved quality of life and reduction of depression-related morbidity.

(3) Symptoms and course and post-CABG depression share several features with late-onset, vascular depression

(4) A NIH-funded study based on Vascular Depression Hypothesis is under way to identify patients at high risk for depression after CABG surgery to develop prevention strategies for post-CABG depression

Reference.
1. Tully PJ, Baker RA. Depression, anxiety, and cardiac morbidity outcomes after coronary artery bypass surgery: a contemporary and practical review. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2012;9:197-208.

The clinicaltrials.gov Identifier is NCT01838356.