CTV - Aging hearts: Over-80s may benefit from angioplasty, bypass surgery tools

More octogenarians are surviving heart attacks and part of the credit may rest with revascularization procedures such as bypass surgery and angioplasty, a new Canadian study suggests.

An American expert on surgery in the elderly says work in this area led by a team at McGill University Health Centre is important in light of current demographics. An article on the Montreal research was published Tuesday by the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

"I've asserted for years that we're not paying close enough attention to the aging of the population and what effect that will have on medical care," said Dr. Mark Katlic, a thoracic surgeon who has authored a textbook on surgery in seniors and who wrote a commentary on the McGill study that also appeared in the journal.

Senior author Dr. Louise Pilote said the use of therapeutic interventions -- in particular angioplasty to open blockages with a balloon or stent, or bypass surgery -- has increased in elderly patients. And technologies have improved as well, she said.