Outcomes of primary percutaneous coronary intervention for acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction in patients aged over 75 years:

Is the contemporary care of the older persons with acute coronary syndrome evidence-based?

Globally, ischaemic heart disease is the leading cause of death, with a higher mortality burden amongst older adults. Although advancing age is associated with a higher risk of adverse outcomes following acute coronary syndrome (ACS), older patients are less likely to receive evidence-based medications and coronary angiography. Guideline recommendations for managing ACS are often based on studies that exclude older patients, and more contemporary trials have been underpowered and produced inconsistent findings. There is also limited evidence for how frailty and comorbidity should influence management decisions. This review focuses on the current evidence base for the medical and percutaneous management of ACS in older patients and highlights the distinct need to enrol older patients with ACS into well-powered, large-scale randomized trials.

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients Without Acute Myocardial Infarction in China: Results From the China PEACE Prospective Study of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

IMPORTANCE

Despite a rapid increase in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures in China, little is known about patient-reported health status before and after PCI in patients without acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

OBJECTIVE

To describe self-perceived angina-specific health status prior to PCI and 1 year after the procedure in patients without AMI in China.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

The China Patient-Centered Evaluative Assessment of Cardiac Events (PEACE) Prospective Study of PCI was a population-based, multicenter cohort study of a consecutive sample of 1611 patients without AMI undergoing elective PCI. Participants were enrolled from 40 hospitals in 18 provinces in China from December 2012 to August 2014. Participants were eligible if they underwent PCI for stable and unstable angina and did not have AMI. Participants were excluded if they died in hospital, withdrew from follow-up, or had missing data on self-reported health status at baseline or at 1 year after PCI. The date of the analysis was September 15, 2018.

EXPOSURES

Percutaneous coronary intervention for ischemic heart disease.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Angina frequency and angina-related quality of life were assessed with the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) immediately prior to PCI and 1 year after the procedure. Either (1) an increase in the SAQ Angina Frequency score of 10 or more points or (2) an increase in the SAQ Quality-of-Life score of 10 or more points was considered to represent clinically significant improvement.

RESULTS

Of 1611 patients, 520 (32.3%) were women; mean (SD) age was 61.3 (9.8) years. Among these patients, 443 (27.5%) had stable coronary artery disease and 1168 (72.5%) had unstable angina. One hundred fourteen of 443 patients undergoing PCI for stable coronary artery disease (25.7%) and 175 of 1168 undergoing PCI for unstable angina (15.0%) had no reported angina symptoms at the time of the procedure (SAQ Angina Frequency score = 100). Moreover, 18% of all patients (290) had minimal angina symptoms (SAQ Angina Frequency score >90) and, thus, no potential for substantial clinical improvement. Patients with smaller clinical improvements in angina symptom burden at 1 year following PCI had significantly higher baseline SAQ scores for all scales than patients with greater clinical improvement, but generally similar sociodemographic and procedural characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this study, 25.7% of patients undergoing PCI for stable coronary artery disease had no reported angina symptoms at the time of the procedure. Patients with smaller clinical improvements in angina symptom burden had higher baseline SAQ scores, which highlights the importance of ascertaining impairment from angina among patients without AMI prior to performing PCI.

Old age and outcome after primary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction

OBJECTIVES

To assess the influence of age as an independent factor determining the prognosis and outcome of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treated using primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

DESIGN

A retrospective analysis from a dedicated database.

SETTING

A high-volume interventional cardiology center in the Netherlands.

PARTICIPANTS

Four thousand nine hundred thirty-three consecutive patients with AMI.

MEASUREMENTS

Baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes after 30 days and 1 year were compared according to age categorized in three groups: younger than 65, 65 to 74, and 75 and older. A more-detailed analysis was performed with six age groups, from younger than 40 to 80 and older.

RESULTS

Of the 4,933 consecutive patients with AMI treated with PCI between 1992 and 2004, 643 were aged 75 and older. Multivariate analysis revealed that patients aged 65 to 75 had a greater risk of 1-year mortality than those younger than 65 (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=1.57, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.15-2.16) and that those aged 75 and older had a greater risk of 1-year mortality than those younger than 65 (AOR=3.03, 95% CI=2.14-4.29).

CONCLUSION

In this retrospective analysis, older age was independently associated with greater mortality after PCI for AMI. Patients aged 65 and older had a higher risk of mortality than younger patients, and those aged 75 and older had the highest risk of mortality.

Combined therapy with Chinese medicine and percutaneous transradial coronary intervention for a centenarian patient with acute myocardial infarction

There are not enough clinical data about centenarians with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A 104-year-old woman exhibited sharp chest pain and severe dyspnea. In routine examinations, her electrocardiogram showed 1-3 mm ST-segment elevation from V1 to V4 leads, the cardiac enzymes were also elevated: creatine kinase (CK)-MB was 45.7 U/L, and cardiac specific troponin I was 40 microg/L. A two-dimensional echocardiography showed anteroseptal akinesia with severely depressed left ventricular function, 38% ejection fraction. She primarily refused to receive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) considering her old age, and she was given a dual anti-platelet medications (low molecular heparin and frusemide). Three days later, due to continuously deteriorating angina pectoris and dyspnea, she was treated with PCI. A diagnostic percutaneous transradial coronary angiography revealed 95% stenosis in the proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD) with 90% stenosis at the origin of diagonal one. A percutaneous coronary intervention for the LAD lesion was successfully performed, and the final angiogram showed a good coronary flow without residual stenosis. The dual anti-platelet medications had to be ceased due to the upper gastrointestinal bleeding after one week and Tongguan Capsule (Chinese medicine composed with Radix Astragali, Radix Salviae Miltiorrhiae, etc.) was administered continuously. The six-month follow-up displayed a high level quality of life for the centenarian woman with the absence of angina pectoris and dyspnea. The case reinforces the importance of PCI for very elderly patients with AMI even centenarian people and reveals the possibility that Tongguan Capsule can be used to replace dual anti-platelet medication with the reduction of bleeding complications.