Introduction
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is frequent after any cardiac surgery, but evidence suggests it may have no significant impact on survival if sinus rhythm (SR) is effectively restored early after the onset of the arrhythmia. In contrast, management of preoperative AF is often overlooked during or after cardiac surgery despite several proposed protocols. This study sought to evaluate the impact of preoperative AF on mortality in patients undergoing isolated surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR).