title: Impact of age on the results of coronary artery bypass grafting.
abstract: As the average age of patients undergoing cardiac surgery is increasing, the effects of age on the incidence of postoperative complications and 30-day mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting were examined. The EuroSCORE and corresponding age-stripped EuroSCORE were calculated in 6,057 patients who underwent isolated coronary bypass between January 1996 and January 2002. Both EuroSCORE and age-stripped EuroSCORE exhibited a significant increase with age in the whole group of patients and in those who were alive 30 days after surgery. The 30-day mortality and the incidence of postoperative complications increased significantly with age. A significant age-dependent increase in EuroSCORE was found in patients who died within 30 days postoperatively, whereas no age dependence was observed in the age-stripped EuroSCORE. Univariate analysis showed diabetes mellitus and atrial fibrillation to be significant risk factors for 30-day mortality; atrial fibrillation was also found to significantly affect 30-day mortality on multivariate analysis. In view of the increasing co-morbidity and age-dependent organ changes in the elderly, specific preventive and therapeutic measures are needed in this group of patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Thoraxklinik, University of Heidelberg, Amalienstr. 5, D-69126 Heidelberg, Germany. amirmortasawi@yahoo.de
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mortasawi
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arnrich
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.forename: Inez
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Frerichs
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Rosendahl
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ennker
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome