at our institution were reviewed. Patients aged ≥80 years were included in this study. All patients provided written informed consent for their information to be recorded in a prospective collection database and met the inclusion criteria of the present study. The indication for repair was an AAA ≥5 cm in diameter, a rapidly growing aneurysm (≥5 mm per 6 months), and a saccular aneurysm. As EVAR became reimbursable in June 2007, our principle of AAA repair has been to use EVAR, if indicated, for patients aged >75 years or patients at high risk if OSR is performed, even if they are aged <75 years. 7 In patients whose aneurysms cannot be repaired with standard EVAR (i.e., proximal neck length <10 mm or severe conical neck shape), we prefer using OSR, even in patients aged >75 years. After careful examination, if it were decided that a patient could not tolerate OSR, complex EVAR using physician-modified fenestration or the chimney technique was applied. Those who required procedures for renal arteries during EVAR were excluded from this study. In the OSR group, patients requiring both infra-and supra-renal clamps were included (because E ndovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is widely accepted as a less invasive surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and has significantly improved short-term outcomes for patients compared with open surgical repair (OSR). 1-3 Although problems with its long-term performance have been recently reported, 4-6 in general, they should not be a major concern for elderly people who do not have a long life expectancy. In contrast, better early OSR results have been observed with improvements in the operative procedure and perioperative management. Although EVAR should be more beneficial for higher-risk or more frail patients, not every elderly person is frail; thus, it is unclear whether it would be beneficial to perform EVAR solely because a patient is older. This study aimed to compare EVAR and OSR results for elderly individuals.
Methods
Study PopulationPatients who underwent elective EVAR and OSR for AAA