Permanent pacemaker treatment in older age groups.
Of 693 patients on permanent pacemaker treatment between 1962 and 1981, 282 (40.7%) were above the age of 75. Of this number, 142 patients were 75-79 years, 95 80-84 years and 45 85-93 (mean 87) years old at the time of the first pacemaker implantation. The patients were followed for 13-154 months (mean 37.1) with special attention being paid to morbidity and mortality after the implantation. Complications occurred in 65 (23%) of the elderly patients, with no significant difference between the three age groups. Excessive threshold rise with stimulation failure (6%) and infections or skin erosions (4.9%) were the most frequent complications. Mortality increased in all age groups during the first 6-12 months compared with the age- and sex-matched Norwegian population. Five-year survival rates were 56, 32 and 25% respectively. We conclude that cardiac pacemaker treatment in the elderly is a safe symptom-relieving therapeutic procedure and that the prognosis for these patients is similar to that for their fellow senior citizens after the first year of treatment.
D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male