Coronary artery bypass grafting in the octogenarian

We have performed coronary bypass grafting in 25 patients 80 years of age or more. The patients' preoperative conditions were characterized by recent myocardial infarction (16/25, or 64%), obesity (15/25, or 60%), hypertension (14/25, or 56%), and left ventricular dysfunction (21/25, or 84%). There were no deaths in the hospital or within 30 days of operation (0/25, or 0%). Postoperative complications occurred in five cases (20%). Complications were leg incision infection (2/25, or 8%), urinary tract infection (1/25, or 4%), stroke (1/25, or 4%), and transient neurologic deficit (1/25, or 4%). There were no instances of reoperation for bleeding, perioperative myocardial infarction, renal failure, pulmonary failure, intraaortic balloon pump use, or sternotomy infection in these patients. Eleven patients (44%) were hospitalized for fewer than 10 days after operation, and all but two (23/25, or 92%) were discharged within 20 days after operation. All patients were followed up, and survival and New York Heart Association functional class were determined. Cumulative survival rate was 94% at 1 year and 88% at 5 years. The cumulative percent survival rate with class I or II function was 92% at 1 year and 80% at 5 years. No patient had recurrent angina.