Survival and quality of life for nonagenarians after cardiac surgery

Background: Reports of cardiac surgery in the elderly have focused primarily on septuagenarians and octogenarians. There are very limited data regarding risk-adjusted models in nonagenarians.

Methods: From 1983 to 2011, patients with age 90 years or greater at the time of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or valve surgery (aortic or mitral) were retrieved from a prospective institutional database. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to determine significant predictors of 5-year survival. In addition, a 12-month assessment of quality of life was conducted.

Results: The CABG-only (n = 46), valve-only (n = 55), or CABG-valve (n = 53) surgery was conducted in 154 patients. Demographic characteristics were similar in all groups except for congestive heart failure, which was more prominent in the valve-only or CABG-valve groups (p < 0.0001). The 30-day mortality was 8.8%, 12.8%, and 18.9% in the CABG-only, valve-only, and CABG-valve groups, respectively, without significant difference among groups (p = 0.35). At 5-years follow-up, the Kaplan-Meier survival curves do not show a difference among groups (p = 0.62). Cox proportional hazard model for 5-year survival identified age (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.25, confidence interval [CI] 1.09 to 1.43, p = 0.001, for 1-year increase), prior surgery (HR = 2.23, CI 1.23 to 4.64, p = 0.007), and prior stroke (HR = 2.39, CI 1.25 to 3.98, p = 0.01), as significant predictors of mortality. The 12-month quality of life questionnaire revealed an improvement in 83% of the patients, whereas only 4% reported a decline in cardiac status.

Conclusions: Survival in nonagenarians is comparable after CABG or valve surgery. Redo surgery, stroke, and increasing age are significant hazards for mortality. Nonagenarians can undergo cardiac surgery with acceptable mortality and quality of life.