Coronary artery bypass grafting in octogenarian

Coronary artery bypass graftings (CABG) in elderly patients are increasing in recent years. Several studies have shown that the rate of complications and mortality is higher in elderly patients than in younger ones. This report presents results of CABG in octogenarians. From January 1996 to December 1999, 362 patients underwent isolated CABG, of whom 15 were over 80 years old (80-year group) and 122 were 70-79 years old (70-year group). Preoperative cardiac function was worse in the 80-year group than in 70-year group [60% vs 29% in Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) class III or IV]. No significant difference was found between two groups in extracorporeal circulation time, aortic clamp time, the number of bypasses and postoperative complications. We conclude that CABG should not be excluded in octogenarians because of their chronological age alone.