Clinical outcome of aortic valve replacement in the elderly

Since elderly patients are being referred for surgery in increasing numbers, we reviewed the clinical outcome of 459 consecutive patients aged 70 to 89 years, who had aortic valve replacement between 1993 and 2000. We subdivided the study population into three groups: in Group 1 we included patients aged 70–74 years old; in Group 2 patients aged 75–79 years old; and in Group 3 patients aged 80 years old or older.

An isolated AVR was performed in 289 patients (63%), concomitant coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) in 168 patients (36.6%), an isolated ventricular septal defect (VSD) closure in one patient (0.2%) and an isolated atrial septal defect (ASD) closure in one patient (0.2%). The overall perioperative mortality rate was 7% (32 patients), without significant differences among the three groups (P=0.88).

Our study confirms the good outcome of aortic valve replacement in elderly patients even in octagenarians and only concomitant CABG procedures increase the operative risk, reducing long-term survival (P<0.05).