Coronary Artery Disease

One hundred patients aged 65 years and older underwent operation for coronary artery disease, its complications, or both. Seventy-eight patients had saphenous vein bypass grafts only. The remainder included segmentectomies, aneurysmectomies, or valve replacement combined with grafts, or aneurysmectomies alone. Significant complications were rare; severe arrhythmias and low cardiac output were the most frequent serious complications and occurred in nine patients. A total of 178 bypass grafts were performed on 89 patients. There were six early deaths and four late deaths for a total overall mortality of 10%. All deaths were in patients with end-stage coronary artery disease and, with one exception, death was due to this advanced disease. Follow-up in 83 patients revealed a significant improvement in 77 patients (93%). Advanced age alone is not a contraindication to surgery for coronary artery disease.