• Pascal Augustin, Sebastien Tanaka, Vibol Chhor, Sophie Provenchère, Darko Arnaudovski, Hassan Ibrahim, Marie-Pierre Dilly, Nicolas Allou, Philippe Montravers, and Ivan Philip.
• Département d'Anesthésie Réanimation Chirurgicale, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat Claude Bernard, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Université Paris 7, Denis Diderot, Paris, France. Electronic address: pascalaugustin@hotmail.com.
• J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2016 Dec 1; 30 (6): 1555-1561.

ObjectivesOctogenarians considered for cardiac surgery encounter more complications than other patients. Postoperative complications raise the question of continuation of high-cost care for patients with limited life expectancy. Duration of hospitalization in intensive care after cardiac surgery may differ between octogenarians and other patients. The objectives were evaluating the mortality rate of octogenarians experiencing prolonged hospitalization in intensive care and defining the best cut-off for prolonged intensive care unit length of stay.DesignA single-center observational study.SettingA postoperative surgical intensive care unit in a tertiary teaching hospital in Paris, France.ParticipantsAll consecutive patients older than 80 years considered for aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis were included.Measurements And Main ResultsMortality rate was determined among patients experiencing prolonged stay in intensive care with organ failure and without organ failure. An ROC curve determined the optimal cut-off defining prolonged hospitalization in intensive care according to the occurrence of postoperative complications. Multivariate analysis determined risk factors for early death or prolonged intensive care stay. The optimal cut-off defining prolonged intensive care unit length of stay was 4 days. Low ventricular ejection fraction (odds ratio [OR] = 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.96-0.83; p = 0.0016), coronary disease (OR = 2.34; 95% CI 1.19-4.85; p = 0.014), and need for catecholamine (OR = 2.79; 95% CI 1.33-5.88; p = 0.0068) were associated with eventful postoperative course. There was not a hospitalization duration beyond which the prognosis significantly worsened.ConclusionsProlonged length of stay in ICU without organ failure is not associated with increased mortality. No specific duration of hospitalization in intensive care was associated with increased mortality. Continuation of care should be discussed on an individual basis.Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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