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[Heart surgery in the aged patient]
Insights
Heart operations for coronary or valvular heart disease are safe and effective in patients over 80 years old. Surgical outcomes show significant improvement in functional capacity with acceptable mortality rates, comparable to younger patients.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Cardiac Surgery
- Geriatric Medicine
Abstract:
107 patients at the age of 80 years or more were operated for coronary or valvular heart disease between 1978 and 1984. The indication for surgery was instable angina in coronary patients and intractable heart failure in such with valvular lesions. 9 coronary and 5 valvular patients died postoperatively, 7 were early postoperative deaths, mainly due to myocardial failure. The majority of cases could be improved for 1 to 2 stages according to NYHA-classification. In this group pulmonary complications were predominant. According to this observation heart operations can also be indicated in the older age patient group without very much more risk than in younger ones.