Ask The Doctors: April 2012 Women’s Edition

There is no difference between the rates of stroke in women and men following bypass surgery. The overall risk depends on coexisting medical conditions that increase the risk of cerebrovascular disease. These risks are basically the same as those causing cardiovascular disease, with the addition of atrial fibrillation, patent foramen ovale (a hole between the upper chambers of the heart), sleep apnea, aneurysms and extensive aortic atherosclerosis.