Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Journal of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Research 2008-5117 6 2 2014 06 30 The Impact of Stress Hormones on Post-traumatic Stress Disorders Symptoms and Memory in Cardiac Surgery Patients 79 84 10.5681/jcvtr.2014.018 EN Jahan Porhomayon Sergei Kolesnikov Nader D Nader REVIEW 10.5681/jcvtr.2014.018 2014 06 10 The relationship and interactions between stress hormones and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are well established from both animal and human research studies. This interaction is especially important in the post-operative phase of cardiac surgery where the development of PTSD symptoms will result in increased morbidity and mortality and prolong length of stay for critically ill cardiac surgery patients. Cardiopulmonary bypass itself will independently result in massive inflammation response and release of stress hormones in the perioperative period. Glucocorticoid may reduce this response and result in reduction of PTSD symptom clusters and therefore improve health outcome. In this review, we plan to conduct a systemic review and analysis of the literatures on this topic.