Aortic valve replacement in elderly patients.

During the years 1965--75, 98 patients more than 65 years of age had aortic valve replacement in our hospital, 24 ball valves and 74 disc valves inserted in their aortic orifice. Actuarial analysis of survival in these patients shows that the operative risk is slightly higher in elder than in younger patients. The survival curve for the following years for those who had disc valve implantation runs parallel to that of younger patients, while those who had ball valve implantation showed a more rapid fall in survival after 3 years. After 10 years, only 30% of patients with ball valve transplantation were alive.