Abstract
Background While the proportion of elderly people in society is increasing, little is known about the influence of old age on survival after prolonged mechanical ventilation. Methods A retrospective follow-up study of 120 patients who had been mechanically ventilated for at least 10 days was performed with a follow-up of up to 5 years. In-hospital survival and post-hospital survival were documented. Also, the functional status of survivors was recorded. The predictive value of age and several other clinical and laboratory parameters for outcome was analyzed. Results The in-hospital survival of the 120 patients studied was 35%. While age below 50 years was associated with improved survival, age was not predictive of in-hospital survival for patients over 50 years of age. The post-hospital survival was 77% 1 year after discharge, with almost all survivors being functionally independent. Again, old age was not predictive of survival. Conclusions For patients aged 50 years or older, patient age does not predict survival after prolonged mechanical ventilation. Even very old survivors have a reasonable life expectancy and regain full functional status.
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