1 in 5 older adults get infections after heart surgery, and women have a 60% higher risk

Star Jones Recalls Her Heart Being Detached for '22 Minutes' During Surgery

Star Jones. Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for The American Heart Association Star Jones is reflecting on her “no joke” open-heart surgery 14 years later. “They opened up my chest, cracked it and disconnected my heart for 22 minutes,” Jones, 62, said on the Tuesday, February 18, episode of the Tamron Hall Show. “But as you know I say, ‘They put it back in so don’t trip.’” “Heart disease is still the number one killer of women. It’s still the numbe…

1 in 5 older adults get infections after heart surgery, and women have a 60% higher risk

One in five older adults gets an infection up to six months after heart surgery, and women are far more likely to develop one, according to recent studies. Black patients also had higher rates of overall infection compared to white patients. Researchers say estimates of postoperative infections are likely vastly underestimated.

New Studies Find One in Five Older Adults Gets Postoperative Infection After Heart Surgery

Alarmingly, women were 60% more likely to develop an infection than men, and Black patients also had higher rates of infection than white patients.