The impact of advanced age on hepatic resection of colorectal liver metastases.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of patient age on surgical therapy for colorectal liver metastases.


METHODS
Between 1992 and 2004, 212 consecutive patients underwent potentially curative hepatic resection. Sixty-two patients were 70 years or older at the time of resection (older group) and 150 patients were less than 70 years at the time of resection (younger group).


RESULTS
A proportion of older patients had a history of severe cardiopulmonary disease (32.3%) and respiratory insufficiency (6.5%). Intraoperative variables, such as resected liver volume, operation time, estimated blood loss, and blood transfusion, were not notably different between older and younger patients. Postoperative complications after resection occurred in 19.7% of older patients and at a similar rate (23.3%) in the younger group. Resection mortality was 0% in older patients and 0.49% in younger patients. The 5-year survival rates of older and younger patients were 34.1% and 53.1%, respectively. Compared with younger patients, the overall survival rate of older patients was markedly lower (p<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Advanced chronologic age cannot be regarded as a medical contraindication for hepatic resection of colorectal liver metastases in patients who are more than 70 years of age.
Nagano
Yasuhiko
Y
Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.
Nojiri
Kazunori
K
Matsuo
Kenichi
K
Tanaka
Kuniya
K
Togo
Shinji
S
Ike
Hideyuki
H
Shimada
Hiroshi
H
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome