Long-term survival after surgical aortic valve replacement in patients aged 80 years and over

OBJECTIVES: Surgical aortic valve replacement can be safely performed in people aged 80 years and older with early benefits on both symptomatic and prognostic ground. While new approaches are advocated to treat this elderly and frail population, data on long-term outcomes are not available. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 1870 patients aged 80 years and over who underwent first time surgical aortic valve replacement during the period 2000-2019. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival and comparisons among groups were performed by log-rank test. Cox analysis was used to determine the independent risk factors for late mortality. RESULTS: The patients' mean age was 84 years and 53% were male. Isolated aortic valve replacement was performed in 42% of the patients, and coronary artery bypass grafting (n = 956), mitral valve (n = 94) or aortic surgery (n = 69) were associated in the remaining cases. One hundred eighty-one patients (8%) sustained at least 1 postoperative complication (reopening for bleeding or tamponade 3%, renal replacement therapy 3%, new cerebral stroke 1.5%). In-hospital mortality was 3.2% in the overall population (60/1870) and 2.2% after isolated aortic valve replacement (18/790). Survival was 90%, 66%, 31% and 14% at 1, 5, 10 and 15 years, respectively, and was similar to the expected survival of a sex- and age-matched population (log-rank P = 0.96). A complicated postoperative course was an independent risk factor for mortality during the follow-up [hazard ratio 1.32 (1.03, 1.68), P = 0.026]. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical aortic valve replacement can be performed with an acceptable early mortality rate and provides excellent long-term survival in people aged 80 years and older.