Abstract
From January, 1979 to June, 1986, 70 consecutive elderly patients (30 males and 40 females) age 65 years or older underwent open heart surgery for valvular heart diseases at Mitsui Memorial Hospital in Tokyo. Seventeen patients (24.3%) were septuagenarians. Porcine bioprosthesis (Carpentier-Edwards) was inserted for the mitral and the tricuspid position, and mechanical valve (Bjork-Shiley or Duromedics) for the aortic position. Every patients received an antiocoagulant (warfarin) postoperatively all through the follow-up period. The mean duration of follow-up was 43 months and the cumulative follow-up was 195 patient-years. Fifteen patients died in hospital after operation, giving an operative mortality rate of 21.4%. Cardiac death occurred in only 5 and the other 10 patients died of other causes such as sepsis, cerebrovascular accident, and agranulocytosis, showing that these patients were already in an advanced stage of cardiac failure. Late death occurred in 5 patients, but there was no clear-cut cardiac death documented. The actuarial survival rated at 3 years old 5 years were 71.6% and 65.9% for all patients, and 90.5% and 83.3% for early survivors. The functional and symptomatic improvement of 49 late survivors was remarkable. Thirty-eight patients (77.6%) are now NYHA class I and II. The incidence of thromboembolic and hemorrhagic episodes was fairly low - 2% and 3% per patient year, respectively. Although the operative mortality is rather high in this study, it is clear that the surgical management of elderly patients with life-threatening valvular lesions results in substantial improvement and good prognosis in surviving patients. Advanced age alone should not be a contraindication to valvular surgery, and surgical treatment should be indicated in the earlier stages of cardiac failure.
