OUTCOMES OF CORONARY BYPASS SURGERY FOR ELDERLY PATIENTS

Object: Because coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is increasingly common in elderly patients, we reviewed risk factors and results with CABG patients 65 years old or older.

Patients and Method: This was a retrospective study of 82 consecutive patients aged 65 years or older who underwent a CABG from September 1994 to November 2000. Mean ages of these patients were 67.87 ± 2.5 (65-78), and 70 (85.4%) men, 12 (14.6%) women. The prevalent comorbidities were smoking (69.5%), unstable angina (68.3%), resent myocardial infarction (40.2%), chronic obstructive lung disease (30.5%), hypertension (29.3%), diabetes (23.2%), left main coronary artery disease (11%), peripheral vascular disease (9.8%), severe left ventricular dysfunction (9%), and renal dysfunction (6%).

Results: While twenty-three patients underwent emergency CABG (one of them was made VSD patch plasty and CABG because of postenfarct VSD), 45 had isolated CABG, 6 had combined aneurysmectomy and CABG, 4 had combined endarterectomy and CABG, 3 had combined aortic valve replacement and CABG, and 1 had combined mitral valve replacement and CABG. Overall, 250 distal anastomoses were performed, an average of 3 anastomoses per patient. The hospital mortality rate was 10.9%.

Conclusion: Despite a high incidence of postoperative complications, CABG can be performed in octogenarians with acceptable hospital mortality and gratifying long-term survival results.