Age is an independent risk factor for mortality even when all known comorbidities are considered. Thus, other factors may additionally contribute to the age-associated risk. We performed a systematic literature search and identified 161 manuscripts, of which 32 studies (18,256 patients) were analyzed. Cross-clamp time correlated with observed mortality. The increase in mortality risk with cross-clamp time was much greater in older patients than in younger patients. The log odds ratio (OR) for age and cross-clamp time was 0.07 and 0.01, respectively, which was highly significant for both independent risk factors. Age accelerates the increase in mortality risk with increasing aortic cross-clamp times.
Keywords
myocardial protection/cardioplegia (including metabolism) - outcomes (includes mortality, morbidity) - cardiopulmonary bypass
