Cerebral Autoregulation and Delirium Study

Approximately one in four elderly patients develops postoperative delirium (POD) after cardiac surgery. POD is associated with prolonged hospitalization, increased mortality, and higher health care costs. While patient-related risk factors are often difficult to modify, surgery- and anesthesia-related factors may be optimized to reduce the incidence of POD. One potentially modifiable factor is intraoperative blood pressure management. Current practice commonly relies on standardized blood pressure targets during cardiac surgery; however, this "one-size-fits-all" approach may not account for individual variability in cerebral perfusion requirements. This study proposes a personalized blood pressure management strategy based on real-time monitoring of cerebral autoregulation, with the goal of maintaining optimal cerebral perfusion and protecting the brain from both hypo- and hyper-perfusion

Inclusion Criteria: • Consenting patients aged ≥ 60 years undergoing elective complex cardiac surgery (coronary artery bypass grafting plus valve surgery, double-valve surgery, triple-valve surgery, redo operations, or aortic arch surgery), or patients aged ≥ 70 years undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting or single-valve repair/replacement surgery. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with symptomatic cerebrovascular disease. * History of delirium. * Major neurocognitive impairment (e.g., dementia or Mini-Mental State Examination score \< 10). * Schizophrenia.