CARDIAC-VALVE REPLACEMENT IN ELDERLY PATIENTS

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  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 123  (7) , 628-632
Abstract
Cardiac valve replacement in 65 consecutive elderly patients (aged 65 yr and older) revealed that the indications for cardiac valve replacement in the elderly should be the same as those in the general population. These 65 patients represented 16% of the patients undergoing valve replacement. The mortality in the 1st 30 days after operation was 4.6% in the elderly group, compared to 0.9% in the group under 65 yr of age. There were 26 significant but non-fatal early complications in the elderly patients, but their long-term functional status was excellent, most of the survivors ending up in class I or class II of the New York Heart Association functional classification. The late mortality was 3.9%/patient year for aortic valve replacement and 15.1% for mitral with or without aortic valve replacement. The actuarial survival rates were 88% at 24 mo. and 55% at 54 mo. for the total elderly group, 86% at 36 mo. for those with aortic valve replacement, 85% at 24 mo. and 64% at 36 mo. for those with mitral valve replacement, 90% at 24 mo. and 77% at 42 mo. for the men, and 82% at 24 mo. and 68% at 42 mo. for the women. Aortic valve replacement was more common in the elderly than in the younger group because of the higher prevalence of congenital calcific aortic stenosis in the former, and this operation provided more gratifying results than mitral valve replacement in elderly patients.