Coronary artery bypass grafting has potential benefits for patients over age 80 with reasonable surgical risk

Medical Xpress / Mayo Clinic / Mayo Clinic Proceedings ^ | June 20, 2022 | Jay Furst / Kukbin Choi et al

[ConservativeMind]

Patients over age 80 are considered high-risk candidates for coronary artery bypass grafting, not only because of normal wear and tear on the body, but also because of comorbidities and risks of complications after surgery. No hard-and-fast guidelines are available to assess the risks and benefits for octogenarians. Patients and physicians often choose not to proceed with surgery, and that decision carries its own risks and disadvantages.

A new retrospective study finds that, although there's a higher surgical risk for patients over age 80, coronary artery bypass grafting may be associated with favorable outcomes and increased long-term survival.

Researchers reviewed case histories for 1,283 patients who were older than age 80 and underwent primary isolated coronary artery bypass grafting at Mayo Clinic between 1993 and 2019. Median survival time was 7.6 years, compared with six years for age- and sex-matched octogenarians in the general U.S. population.

"Our results show that coronary artery bypass surgery can be beneficial for patients over age 80," says Kukbin Choi, M.D.

The patients' survival rate was 90.2% at one year, 67.9% at five years, 31.1% at 10 years and 8.2% at 15 years, according to the study. The surgical mortality rate was 4%. Risk factors associated with reduced survival time included advanced age, diabetes mellitus, smoking history and chronic lung disease.

Just over 56% of the surgeries were elective procedures, 40% were performed in urgent situations and 3.8% were emergencies.

"The longer median survival in octogenarians undergoing surgery and the relatively low rates of complications observed in our study imply that with tailored surgery candidacy and consideration of specific high-risk factors, coronary artery bypass grafting may be an important treatment strategy for those patients with multivessel coronary artery disease," says Dr. Choi.

[ConservativeMind]

Don’t let your age alone determine if you get this surgery.

[ConservativeMind]

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[Big Red Badger]

Dang,
13 years to quit Smoking.

[lee martell]

We are fortunate to live in a country that routinely provides surgery to those age 80 or sometimes older.
Not guaranteed, but many of these elders will typically be considered for treatment.