Age should be a consideration when predicting postoperative outcomes. Therefore, heart surgery patients in their 80s cannot be compared to youngers in terms of postoperative outcomes.
This was the findings of a study conducted by a community hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA on the outcomes of 522 octogenarians and 7,204 non-octogenarians who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or valve surgery between 1993 and 2001.
Octogenarians have a higher risk of death by 72 percent, neurological complications by 51 percent, and are more likely to undergo re-operation to treat bleeding by 49 percent.
