It has been suggested that inflammation can have a role in the development of atrial arrhythmias after cardiac surgery and that genetic predisposition to develop postoperative complications exists. There have been studies performed in Europe to ascertain this association and it has been found that the -174G/C Interleukin-6 promoter gene variant appears to modulate the inflammatory response to surgery and to influence the development of postoperative AF. These data suggest an inflammatory component of postoperative atrial arrhythmias and a genetic predisposition to this complication , this polymorphism has also been correlated with the development of postoperative renal and pulmonary complications.