Age is a factor in outcome from heart surgery

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Patients aged 80 or more have a poorer outcome from heart surgery, according to a new study.
As the population ages, more and more people over 80 are going to need heart surgery. Previous work has suggested that octogenerians tend to do less well than younger people, following heart bypass or heart valve replacement surgery. A team at Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati, have examined data on a group of 7,726 patients undergoing either procedure from 1993 to 2001. There were 522 octogenerians in the sample.

The study showed that octogenerians had a 72 per cent higher risk of death, longer hospitalization time and a higher risk of neurologic complications. Further analysis shows that age is a risk factor for a poorer outcome, independent of other factors. Nevertheless, older people still have much to gain from heart surgery and ought not to be denied an operation on age grounds alone.

Source
Archives of Surgery November 2005 Volume 140 pages 1089-1093