Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Age as a Risk Factor Influencing Postoperative Survival

Abstract

During a ten-year period 735 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm were admitted of whom 656 patients were operated on. The perioperative mortality was 18%: 5% in cases electively operated on, 17% in acute not ruptured cases, and 37% in patients presenting with rupture. Age significantly affected peri operative (< 31 days) mortality—both considered alone and assessed together with other risk factors. Further analysis indicated that the perioperative mor tality of octogenarians did not differ from the mortality of septuagenarians, who on the other hand experienced a perioperative mortality rate twice that of patients younger than seventy years. Survival beyond the perioperative period was adversely affected only by age and ischemic heart disease.