Coronary artery bypass surgery in patients seventy years of age and older

Fifty patients 70 years of age and older underwent coronary artery bypass surgery for disabling angina pectoris or congestive heart failure or both (two quadruple, 11 triple, 25 double grafts, 12 single). Twenty additional procedures were done (11 mitral valve replacements for papillary muscle dysfunction, six ventricular aneurysmectomies, four aortic valve replacements, and one repair of ventricular septal defect). Surgical mortality rate was 8 per cent (four patients). Total mortality rate was 14 per cent, after a mean follow-up of 17 months. Of 30 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery alone, two died during surgery and none of follow-up. Age alone should not be a contraindication for coronary artery bypass surgery. Surgical risk is acceptable in older patients, and improvement can be expected in the majority of patients.