Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is a common complication following cardiac surgery
that increases the incidence of stroke, kidney injury and death. Vitamin C has been shown to
decrease the incidence of POAF follow cardiac surgery, but the optimal dose has not been
identified. With this project, the investigators plan to gather pharmacokinetic and
dose-response data for vitamin C in the cardiac surgery population. The investigators plan to
conduct a small interventional pilot study investigating the pharmacokinetics and
pharmacodynamics of Vitamin C in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG)
surgery. Patients enrolled will receive an intravenous dose of Vitamin C the day before
surgery and the day after. Patients will have blood samples obtained with each dose for
analysis of vitamin C concentrations and several biomarkers of oxidative stress. Analysis of
samples will be performed within the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Wilkes
University.