Objective: Compared to open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is associated with decreased perioperative morbidity and mortality. This study sought to examine the outcomes of EVAR in patients >or=80 years of age.
Methods: This was a retrospective review from a prospectively maintained computerized database. A total of 322 patients aged >or=80 underwent elective EVAR from January 1997 to November 2007. Mean age was 84 years +/- 3.4 years (range, 80-95 years), and 78.5% were male. Mean aneurysm size was 62 mm +/- 12 mm (range, 39-110 mm).
Results: Mean procedural blood loss was 350 mL (range, 50-2700 mL), and 13.9% required intraoperative transfusion. Mean length of postoperative stay was 2.46 days (median, 1 day; range, 1-42 days), with 54.3% of patients discharged on the first postoperative day. There were 25 (7.8%) perioperative major adverse events. The most common were categorized as device-related (6), cardiac (4), gastrointestinal (4), and bleeding/hematoma (3). The perioperative 30-day mortality rate was 3.1% (10 of 322). Mean follow-up was 25.7 months (range, 1-110 months). Overall, 47 patients (14.6%) required secondary intervention, 7 patients (2.2%) underwent conversion to open repair, and 4 patients (1.2%) died from AAA rupture. Endoleaks occurred in 95 patients (29.4%), with 20 type I, 48 type II, and 27 of indeterminate type; of these, 10 patients with type I endoleaks underwent secondary intervention. Freedom from all-cause mortality at 1 year was 84.3% and at 5 years was 27.4%. Freedom from aneurysm-related mortality at 5 years was 92.9%.
Conclusion: EVAR in octogenarians is associated with high procedural success and low perioperative morbidity and mortality. The midterm results of this study support the use of EVAR in this patient population. Further studies are needed to predict short-term and long-term mortality risk, and treatment for other causes of death.
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