Quality of life after cardiac surgery in the elderly.
BACKGROUND
Cardiac surgery in the elderly is performed with increasing frequency. Beside low mortality an evident gain in quality of life is the most important aim of therapy. To investigate the medium term outcome of cardiac surgery, we evaluated patients over 75 years of age who were operated on within a 1.5-year period.


METHODS
Between 01/98 and 06/99, 124 patients (76 male, 48 female), mean age of 76.6 (range 75-86) years were operated on. Eighty-four per cent had isolated coronary or valve procedures and 16% had combined procedures. Pre- and postoperative NYHA classification, follow-up period, perioperative mortality and the subjective satisfaction were recorded.


RESULTS
Total perioperative mortality was 6.4%. After a mean follow-up time of 15.2 (range 6-24) months, patient satisfaction with the operative results was excellent in 73%, good in 26% and low (unsatisfied) in 1%.


CONCLUSIONS
Cardiac surgery in the elderly can be performed with an acceptable morbidity and mortality. The fact that 99.1% of the patients are satisfied with their operation and the dramatic improvement in functional status (96.5% NYHA I and II) justify cardiac surgery in this age.
Mittermair
R P
RP
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Innsbruck Medical Center, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria. reinhard.mittermair@tirol.com
Müller
L C
LC
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality; D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome