Abstract
An overview is presented of studiespublished in the past decade, on changes of psychologicalfunctioning in patients after surgical treatmentof the ischaemic heart disease. An impairmentof mental status after surgical cardiac revascularizationby means of coronary artery bypass graft(CABG) was found in about 25% of cases. Amongpsychopathological symptoms depression and anxietypredominated. The most frequently described predictorsidentifying patients from the high-risk grouppre-operatively are the following: depression,anxiety, female gender, lack of social support, a lowsocioeconomic status, and a weak mechanism ofrepression. It is believed that high-risk individualsmay be offered a prevention program in the form ofpsychological assistance to facilitate their recoveryto fully adequate psychosocial functioning.