Cardiac surgery in select nonagenarians: should we or shouldn't we?

Background: Patients aged 90 years and older represent a rapidly growing subset of the population, many of whom are functionally limited by cardiovascular disease. Clinical decision making about cardiac surgical intervention in nonagenarians is hindered by a paucity of data examining survival outcomes in this population.

Methods: A consecutive series of nonagenarians who underwent cardiac operations between 1995 and 2004 were retrospectively reviewed. Data collection included baseline preoperative clinical status, intraoperative characteristics, and perioperative course. Area under the Kaplan-Meier survival estimate method was used to calculate mean survival.

Results: Cardiac surgical procedures were done in 49 patients (51% male); their mean age was 91.9 years (range, 90 to 97 years). Operative mortality was 8% (n = 4). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models found preoperative chronic renal insufficiency (hazard ratio [HR], 4.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.53 to 15.55; p = 0.007) and ejection fraction (HR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.00; p = 0.033) were independently associated with death. Overall mean survival was 5.1 +/- 0.5 years (median, 5.2 years). Quality of life outcomes were similar to that of two related norm-based populations based on age and disease process.

Conclusions: Cardiac surgical procedures can be performed safely and with therapeutic benefit in carefully selected nonagenarians. We consider physiologic indicators, social factors, and patient preferences to be the main determinants in the patient selection process. Our results support the need for more proactive intervention in symptomatic nonagenarian patients as it relates to earlier consideration of elective, rather than emergency cardiac operations.