Cardiac surgery in older patients: hospital outcomes during a 15-year period from a complete national series

Abstract OBJECTIVES The objective was to review national trends in activity and hospital outcomes in older patients having cardiac surgery over a 15-year time period. METHODS Data were collected prospectively and uploaded to the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research electronically. Data were validated, cleaned and processed using reproducible algorithms. Mortality was death in hospital after index operation. RESULTS A total of 227 442 cardiac procedures were recorded in patients aged ≥70 years of which 46 354 were in those aged ≥80 years. Overall patients aged ≥70 years represented 43% of all adult cardiac surgery in the most recent study year. The annual proportion of surgery in patients ≥80 years increased from 4.1% to 10.8% between the first and last study years. There has been a significant linear increase in octogenarian valve [β 67.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 55.04 to 79.83, P