J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 92(9): 1127-1130, 1991

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Report on the annual meeting

RESULTS AND PROBLEMS OF CARDIAC SURGERY IN THE ELDERLY (70 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER)

Fifty-nine cardiac patients with 70 years of age or older were operated in our Department from 1979 to 1990. The mean age was 73.1 years old, and the male/female ratio was 27/32. The operative procedures performed were CABG in 35 cases, the closure of VSP in 4 cases, the valve surgery in 17 cases and the others in 3 cases. In CABG cases, the operative and late mortalities of the elderly patients were both 2.9% (1 case each), which were comparable to those of the younger patients. The restriction of the bypass grafting only to the key coronary arteries to reduce the operative time was considered to be important. In VSP cases, three of four patients were operated in the acute phase, one being lost because of in-hospital contamination. In the valve group, 24% (4 cases) were lost in the early postoperative period, which was much higher than that of the younger patients (7.2%). The earlier decision of the operation and the use of smaller prosthetic valve avoiding time-consuming aortic root enlargement were considered to be important to reduce the mortality. It is concluded that the results of cardiac surgery in the elderly patients could be satisfactory if one considers its peculiarity well.

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