Frailty in younger CABG patients linked to increased mortality

Editor's Note

Frailty posed a higher risk of mortality in younger coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients than older patients, this Canadian study finds.

In this analysis of 40,083 patients who underwent CABG surgery between 2008 and 2015, researchers found that frailty was associated with poor early and long-term postoperative survival rates, especially in patients between the ages of 40 and 74, compared with those who were 85 years and older.

The researchers also found that the prevalence of frailty was markedly higher in CABG patients (22%) than those undergoing elective noncardiac surgery (3%).

Frailty should be incorporated into preoperative risk stratification models to assist in selection of operative candidates, the researchers say.