The aim of the research was to study the structure of psychopathological symptoms in patients who underwent cardiac surgery (UCS) in the conditions of artificial circulation (AC), in the postoperative period, both in general and in terms of individual types of vascular and neurological pathology.

Using the approaches of a structured clinical diagnostic interview with the assistance of a specially developed questionnaire, we clinically examined 700 patients who were treated at the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and who underwent UCS in the AC. Among the examined patients were 86 patients (12.3 %) with cerebral infarction (CI), 217 patients (31.0 %) patients with signs of postoperative encephalopathy and 504 patients (72.0 %) with manifestations of cognitive dysfunction.

The study found that patients who underwent UCS with AC have a wide range of subjective manifestations of psychopathological symptoms. Such symptoms are represented by disorders of cognitive functioning, as well as affective (depressive and anxiety), asthenic and somatovegetative symptoms (in particular, dyssomnias and, to a lesser extent, appetite disorders). The highest prevalence of psychopathological symptoms was found in patients with CI, slightly less — in patients with postoperative encephalopathy, and the lowest — in patients with cognitive dysfunction.

The results obtained should be taken into account when developing a system of specialized medical care and rehabilitation of this group of patients.