ArticleInteractive cardiovascular and thoracic surgery2022
Once after a full moon: acute type A aortic dissection and lunar phases.
Article in Interactive cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of atmospheric, lunar and superstitious factors on the cause of spontaneous pneumothorax.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2025Article
- No influence of moon phases on emergency trauma admission.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Article
- Effect of lunar phases on international normalized ratio in patients with deep vein thrombosis using warfarin.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Comment on: Once after a full moon: acute type A aortic dissection and lunar phases.Interdisciplinary cardiovascular and thoracic surgery · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
23 authors at 11 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesAcute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) is a rare but severe condition, routinely treated with emergent cardiac surgery. Many surgeons have the notion that patients with ATAAD tend to come in clusters, but no studies have examined these observations. This investigation was undertaken to study the potential association between the lunar cycle and the incidence of ATAAD.
methodsWe collected information on 2995 patients who underwent ATAAD surgery at centres from the Nordic Consortium for Acute Type A Aortic Dissection collaboration. We cross-referenced the time of surgery with lunar phase using a case-crossover design with 2 different definitions of full moon (>99% illumination and the 7-day full moon period).
resultsThe period when the moon was illuminated the most (99% definition) did not show any significant increase in incidence for ATAAD surgery. However, when the full moon period was compared with all other moon phases, it yielded a relative risk of 1.08 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00-1.17, P = 0.057] and, compared to waxing moon, only the relative risk was 1.11 (95% CI 1.01-1.23, P = 0.027). The peak incidence came 4-6 days after the moon was fully illuminated.
conclusionsThis study found an overrepresentation of surgery for ATAAD during the full moon phase. The explanation for this is not known, but we speculate that sleep deprivation during full moon leads to a temporary increase in blood pressure, which in turn could trigger rupture of the aortic wall. While this finding is interesting, it needs to be corroborated and the clinical implications are debateable.
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