Cardiac and thoracic vascular surgery

The number of aged individuals is growing, and consequently the demands on resources for cardiac surgery will increase in the elderly. Even in the absence of obvious coexisting diseases, advanced age is always accompanied by a general decline in organ functions, and specifically by changes in structure and function of the heart and vasculature that will ultimately affect cardiovascular performance (e.g. hypertension, ischaemic heart disease, etc.). These alterations have to be taken into account when older patients require anaesthesia for cardiac surgery. Pre-operative examination must be performed carefully to estimate cardiac function as well as dysfunction of other organ systems. Benzodiazepines as well as α2-adrenoceptor agonists can be used for pre-medication; induction and maintenance of anaesthesia can be performed as balanced anaesthesia or total intravenous anaesthesia. Essential monitoring should include pulmonary artery catheterization and/or transoesophageal echocardiography. During cardiac surgery the risk for elderly individuals is increased; in particular, the central nervous system is more often compromised in the elderly than in younger patients. However, elderly patients without significant co-morbidity have a mortality rate comparable to that of younger patients.