The influence of age on mortality and survival in patients undergoing oesophagogastrectomies. A seven-year experience in a tertiary centre☆

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of advanced age on the outcome and survival of patients undergoing oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer at a single high-volume centre. We retrospectively reviewed the hospital survival of 326 patients in oesophagogastrectomies (OGs) in a period from May 2001 to April 2008. We divided the patients into two groups. Group A (n=218) consisted of patients younger than 70 years of age, while Group B (n=108) consisted of patients 70 years of age or older. The two groups were comparable. In-hospital mortality for Group A was 11 out of 218 (5%), while in-hospital mortality for Group B was 13 out of 108 (12%). This difference was statistically significant (P=0.024). Multivariate analysis showed that risk factors for in-hospital mortality after OG included age over 70 years [odds ratio (OR)=2.79], reduced % of predicted FEV(1) (OR=0.13) and cardiac co-morbidity (OR=2.53). Despite age over 70 years proving not to be predictive of survival (P=0.21), significant independent predictors were advancing age [hazard ratio (HR)=1.03] and stage of disease (HR=1.84). P-values were 0.0278 and 0.018, respectively. Increasing age is a significant risk factor for mortality and survival after oesophageal resection operations. This mortality is particularly high if associated with a preoperative cardiac or respiratory morbidity.