ABSTRACT
Objective To summarize the surgical treatment of heart disease in patients aged 70 years and over. Methods From May 1995 to July 2000, 23 patients aged 70 years and over underwent cardiac operation at our department. Thirteen cases underwent isolated coronary bypass grafting, 5 had isolated valve operations , 3 had combined valve operation and coronary bypass grafting, 1 had excision of left atrial myxomas, 1 had combined pericardiectomy and coronary bypass grafting .Results Postoperative complications occurred in 5 cases (21.7%). The hospital mortality rate was 4.3% (1 case) . All of the 22 cases survived showed improvements in cardiac function and quality of life during a follow up of 1 month to 5 years.Conclusions Cardiac operations can be performed in patient saged 70 yeas and over with a satisfactory outcome,earlier referral and intervention is mandatory to improve results in this patients.