Elderly People Should Be Allowed To Have Cardiac Surgeries If They Want To, But Only After They Are Informed On The Potential Risks

The heart is a muscular organ that pumps blood to the body. The heart is at the centre of the circulatory system. This system consists of a network of blood vessels, such as arteries, veins, and capillaries. These blood vessels carry blood to and from all areas of the body.

Throughout the developed world, the population is aging at an alarming rate. This has become an issue of great concern. The growing number of elderly people within the community has several health and economic implications. The prevalence of atherosclerosis increases with age and directly impacts on the workload of both cardiac and vascular surgeons. The decision to operate should not be based on age alone but reflect an assessment of the risk benefit ratio of individual cases. Increased life expectancy, safer anaesthesia and less invasive surgical techniques have led to more patients being considered for surgical intervention. 

Attitudes and opinions towards the elderly group of our society differ greatly from one individual to another. With an increasingly aging population, surgeons can expect a greater proportion of their workload to include patients aged over 75 years. A crucial aspect of surgical management of the elderly is the ability to make the right decision when one is often faced with a multitude of imperfect options. It has been shown previously that cardiovascular reserve capacity decreases with aging. Nevertheless, chronological age alone should not be relied upon as a predictor of outcome. Instead, more emphasis should put on the functional status of the patient. Although cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in this group of patients, one could also hypothesize that those who have survived to that age do not have significant disease.