Introduction
As the population, ages an increasing number of older patients are being referred for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for cardiovascular diseases [1, 2]. Octogenarians, as the fastest growing stratum of the population and with the highest prevalence of coronary artery disease, are particularly more often being sent to cardiothoracic surgeons for surgical revascularization (Figure 1) [3]. Similarly, in Germany, during the years 1989 to 2000, there was an increase in the proportion of patients aged ≥70 who underwent cardiac surgery from 11.2% to 36.7% [4]. One of the concerns of operating on older patients is often the trepidation of poor surgical outcomes. There is an apprehension that patients at an advanced age will not recover as well or perhaps have fragile tissue. The same alarm is shared by cardiologist who consider Octogenarians at the highest risk for procedural complications during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) owing to their greater prevalence of associated comorbidities and more depressed cardiac function [5, 6]. Although, the results of CABG among Octogenarians are inferior to those of younger patients, CABG outcomes for Octogenarians are better than that of PCI or medical therapy alone. [7]. Currently, there is no clear consensus in the literature on the impact of age on CABG patient outcomes.
The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of age on postoperative outcomes in older patients that undergo CABG. Specifically, the aim is to determine whether Septuagenarians have better results compared to Octogenarians and assess the effect of gender in octogenarians on postsurgical outcomes.