Results of coronary angiography in acute myocardial infarction in the elderly

Marzenna Zielinska¹, Krzysztof Kaczmarek¹, Andrzej Walczak², Wlodzimierz Koniarek¹

Summary
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the main causes of death in advanced age. There are limited data on coronary angiographic findings in elderly patients with AMI.
Methods: In this study, we analysed clinical characteristics and angiographic findings in elderly patients (aged ?75 years) with AMI, who underwent primary PTCA. All data were compared with those of younger patients (<75 years old).
Results: A total of 924 patients, hospitalised due to AMI, were subjected to retrospective analysis. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to age. Group I (n=92) included patients aged ?75 years (mean age 78.82±3.32 yrs). Group II (n=839) comprised younger patients (mean age 58.1±9.7 yrs). The elderly were more likely to be female (51% vs. 26%, p<0.01) and to have other comorbid illnesses. The elderly were also more likely to have antero-lateral AMI (53% vs. 41.5%, p<0.05). The elderly suffered more often from multi-vessel coronary disease (71.7% vs. 55.6%). PTCA on significant lesions was equally successful in patients from both groups (84.78% vs. 89.9%, NS).
Conclusions: 1. The elderly have a multi-vessel coronary disease more often than younger patients. All the same, single-vessel disease was present in over 25% of elderly patients with AMI. 2. Primary PTCA in the elderly with AMI is safe and as effective in achieving reperfusion as in younger patients.

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