Outcome after aortic valve replacement in octogenarians

BACKGROUND: The advancing age of the population in the western world and improvements in surgical techniques and postoperative care have resulted in an increasing number of very elderly patients undergoing cardiac operations. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the surgical outcome in 115 octogenarians after aortic valve replacement. METHODS: We retrospectively identified 115 patients (47 men, 68 women) aged 82.3 +/- 2.1 years (mean, 80 to 92 years) who underwent aortic valve replacement alone (71 patients, 62.1%) or in combination with coronary artery bypass grafting (44 patients, 37.9%), between January 1992 and April 2003. These patients had significant severe aortic stenosis with a mean valve area of 0.62 +/- 0.15 cm(2) and a mean gradient of 88.62 +/- 24.06 mm Hg. RESULTS: The in-hospital mortality rate was 8.5%. The late follow-up was 100% complete. Actuarial survival at 1 and 5 years was 86.4% and 69.4%, respectively. Predictors of late mortality were ejection fraction (p < 0.01), preoperative heart failure (p < 0.03), and the type of prosthesis (p < 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The outcome after aortic valve replacement in octogenarians is excellent; the operative risk is acceptable and the late survival rate is good. Therefore, cardiac surgery should not be withheld on the basis of age alone.