title: Safety and Clinical Effectiveness of Percutaneous Vertebroplasty in the Elderly (≥80 years).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the safety and clinical effectiveness of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in patients aged 80 and over.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and seventy-three patients (127 women, 46 men; mean age = 84.2y) underwent 201 PVP procedures (391 vertebrae) in our institution from June 2008 to March 2012. One hundred and twenty-six patients (73 %) had osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (VCF), 36 (20.5 %) were treated for tumour lesions, and the remaining 11 (6.5 %) for lesions from another cause. Comorbidities and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores were assessed before treatment. Periprocedural and delayed complications were systematically recorded. A qualitative scale was used to evaluate pain relief at 1-month follow-up, ranging from significant pain worsening to marked improvement or disappearance. New fracture occurrence was assessed on follow-up imaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-five percent of patients had pretreatment ASA class scores ≥3. No major complication occurred. Pain was unchanged in 16.9 % of cases, mildly improved in 31.5 %, and disappeared in 47.8 %. We identified 27 (11 %) symptomatic new VCFs in patients with osteoporosis on follow-up imaging. The mean delay in diagnosis of new fractures was 5 ± 8.7 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Even in the elderly, PVP remains a safe and effective technique for pain relief, independently of the underlying disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  • Post-PVP pain improvement was observed in 79.3 % of elderly patients. • PVP remains a safe technique in elderly patients. • No decompensation of comorbidity was observed in our series.
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Neuroradiology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France. fredclare5@msn.com.|Paris VI University Pierre et Maris Curie, Paris, France. fredclare5@msn.com.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Clarençon
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Neuroradiology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fahed
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Neuroradiology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.|Paris VI University Pierre et Maris Curie, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gabrieli
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Sfax University Hospital, Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Yessine
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guermazi
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Neuroradiology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Evelyne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cormier
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Neuroradiology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Molet-Benhamou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroradiology, Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: Betty
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jean
authors.affiliation: Paris VI University Pierre et Maris Curie, Paris, France.|Department of Rheumatology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dadoun
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Lise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Le Jean
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Neuroradiology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.|Paris VI University Pierre et Maris Curie, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chiras
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D050815:Fractures, Compression / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D054854:Vertebroplasty / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Elderly; Imaging modality; Pain relief; Percutaneous vertebroplasty; Vertebral fracture