Coronary artery bypass grafting in the elderly

Objectives To appraise the clinical characteristics of patients aged 75 years or over after coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods In the past 8 years, 32 patients aged 75 or over underwent coronary artery bypass grafting(CABG). 25 cases underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB),4 cases had CABG with cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB), and 3 cases had combined mitral valve replacement and CABG. Results There was no death case in the hospital. The average intubation time of all cases was 11 h,the average ICU stay time was 4 d, the average postoperative stay time was 18 d, the average drainage was 831 ml. 29 postoperative complications were found,20 cases followed up for 3～88 months. Conclusions Patients without severe pulmonary, liver, renal and cerebral diseases, underwent suitable surgical type and intensive peri-operative management, could have encouraging result in CABG. OPCAB , which remarkably reduced the rate of postoperative complications and hospital death, should be recommended as the first choice.