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Review
. 2019 Feb 26;11(2):71-83.
doi: 10.4330/wjc.v11.i2.71.

Heart valve disease in elderly

Carlo Rostagno  1
Affiliations
Review

Heart valve disease in elderly

Carlo Rostagno. World J Cardiol. .

Abstract

The incidence of heart valve disease increases significantly with age. Degenerative abnormalities associated with severe aortic stenosis and mitral and tricuspid regurgitation are found in not less than 10% of the population aged ≥ 75 years. Surgical treatment has been considered for years to be the treatment of choice. However, it was not uncommonly associated with high perioperative morbidity and mortality due to frequent comorbidities and overall frailty conditions of these patients. Conventional risk scores such as Society of Thoracic Surgeons and European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation may underestimate the risk of surgery in elderly patients, leading to inappropriate surgical indication. On the other hand, at least 30% of patients with severe conditions are left untreated due to prohibitive surgical risk. Interventional procedures, which are in continuous development, may be actually considered for high risk patients and, as recent results suggest, also for intermediate risk patients.

Keywords: Elderly; Interventional cardiology; Surgery; Valve diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Incidence of valve heart disease in 500 consecutive patients aged > 80 years referred for hip fracture.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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