Cardiac surgery in octogenarians: have we gone too far or not far enough?

Unfortunately, the current study does not provide us with data on how long the patients spent in the nursing home nor does it provide long-term functional outcomes of its patients. [...]a high transfer rate to rehabilitation settings seen in this study may reflect a positive sign--encouraging physical independence and consequently higher long-term quality of life in their elderly patients, as opposed to signifying a "significant deterioration in quality of life." [...]the authors rightly discuss the need to consider how surgical outcomes stack up against other treatment options in elderly cardiac patients.\n6 By 1 year, however, some of these differences had narrowed, yet there was a reduced need for re-hospitalization and re-vascularization in patients treated in the invasive arm of the study.7 Although certain of the authors' conclusions seen unsubstantiated, few would argue with their calls for more research on this important topic.