Surgical treatment of abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms in aged patients

A total of 378 patients with aortic aneurysm, consisting of 128 with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and 250 with thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA), underwent operation in our institution during the past 20 years. Of these patients, 58 with AAA and 63 with TAA were 65 years old or over. Preoperative complications tended to be observed more frequently in the aged patients than in the younger, 'non-aged' patients. The early mortalities in the aged group were 5% for elective AAA operation, 40% for emergency AAA operation, 11% for elective TAA operation and 41% for emergency TAA operation. The 5-year survival rates in the aged group were 78.3 +/- 5.8% for AAA and 63.4 +/- 4.0% for TAA, which were not significantly different from those in the non-aged group, respectively. Postoperative complications tended to occur more frequently in the aged patients than in the non-aged patients both for AAA and TAA. The present data suggest that aggressive surgical treatment for aortic aneurysm in the aged is warranted unless other serious organ failure exists.