Background: A growing number of patients > or = 80 years require cardiac catheterization. Since little is known about the overall safety of these procedures in this population, we assessed the procedure-related risks and determined predictors for complications.
Methods: We studied 1085 consecutive patients > or = 80 years (82.6+/-2.6 years; 526 males, 544 females), who underwent 1384 cardiac catheterizations in a tertiary specialist university hospital (3% of 43,517 procedures).
Results: A total of 373 patients (35%) required percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), and 331 (31%) received coronary artery bypass surgery. Thirty-one patients died during hospital stay. Procedure-related complications including vascular injuries occurred in 2.1% after CATH and 11.6% after PCI.
Conclusions: Despite the widespread notion that cardiac catheterization exposes patients > or = 80 years to an unwarranted risk, these data demonstrate an acceptable complication rate. Patients #10878;80 years of age should thus not be refused to undergo cardiac catheterization merely based on their age.