title: Abdominal aortic aneurysmectomy in octogenarian patients.
abstract: The authors report 56 patients. 80 years of age or older who had an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA): twenty seven were operated upon as emergencies, 7 with intra-peritoneal (Group I) and 20 with retro-peritoneal rupture (Group II). Twenty nine underwent elective surgery (Group III). Renal pulmonary and cardiac disease are frequent in octogenarian patients. The surgical repair consisted of 40 knitted bifurcated grafts and 16 aorto-aortic woven grafts. The overall in-hospital mortality rate is high (28.5%: 16 patients) essentially in "emergency" surgery: 71% for the seven Group I patients and 45% for the twenty Group II patients. The in-hospital mortality rate of 6.9% for the Group III of "elective" procedure is higher than the mortality rate of patients of all ages operated on for asymptomatic AAA in our institution which is 4.3%. Once a patient has been operated on successfully his life expectancy tends to parallel that of a normal population for his age group. These results can be improved with preventive measures such as elective surgery for asymptomatic AAA with a diameter of 6 cm or more. Operative contraindications are severe congestive heart failure, advanced pulmonary disease or neoplastic disease. The age "per se" is not a contraindication to aneurysmectomy. Physiologic rather than chronologic age should determine the selection for AAA in the over-80 age group. CT scans and MR are safe fast and non-invasive preoperative examinations for AAA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardio-Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Rangueil, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Glock
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smile
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dalous
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Roux
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fournial
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cerene
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Puel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D001019:Aortic Rupture / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate