The Outcome of Patients Undergoing Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair with and without Cardiac Disease

Purpose: We report the outcome of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair with and without cardiac disease. In patients with cardiac disease, we compared staged procedures and simultaneous operations. Material and Methods: A total of 217 patients underwent scheduled AAA repair from 1994 to 2005. When the AAA with cardiac disease was 5.0 cm or less in diameter, we performed a staged procedure. When it was more than 5.0 cm in diameter, we performed a simultaneous operation. Forty-two patients underwent simultaneous operations, and 15 had staged procedures. Results: No occurrence of major cardiac complication was detected in any patient postoperatively. There were no hospital deaths in either the no-cardiac-disease group or the staged-procedure group. There were two hospital deaths in the simultaneous group. The estimated actuarial 10-year survival rates were 58.9 +/- 9.9% and 68.2 +/- 1.5% for the no-cardiac-disease group and the with-cardiac-disease group, respectively (P = 0.85). The 10-year survival rates were 71.2 +/- 1.6% and 74.8 +/- 1.3% for the one-stage-operation group and the staged-operation group, respectively (P = 0.35). There was no significant difference with regard to hospital deaths and late mortality rate among the groups. Conclusion: The simultaneous operation method is a useful technique in patients having both a large AAA and cardiac disease. (Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2008; 14: 96-100)