80-year-olds do well with heart artery bypass

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Many people in their 80s benefit as much as younger patients from surgery to bypass blocked coronary arteries, according to New York-based researchers.

However, patients with chronic renal failure and more severe pre-operative Heart disease may not fare as well as others, Dr. Michael F. Wilson and colleagues note in the American Journal of Cardiology.

The researchers analyzed outcomes for 73 patients aged 80 years or more who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting at Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo.

Overall, two patients died in the hospital due to complications of surgery, and 10 died during the next 5 years.

However, most patients appeared to do well, the team says, and their functional status improved significantly after surgery.

In fact, say the investigators, “eighty-three percent were totally independent in the activities of daily living after surgery; they could engage in moderate physical activity and go out shopping on their own.”

The only factors that predicted a significantly worse outcome were, as mentioned, severe heart disease and chronic kidney failure.

In contrast, octogenarians with preexisting conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, Stroke , or High Blood Pressure “continued to have an excellent quality of life,” the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: American Journal of Cardiology, March 15, 2005.

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