Impact of coronary angioplasty in elderly patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND: As treatment of coronary artery disease improved over the last years, management of elder patients remained a matter of debate since this age group has been underrepresented in most trials. The study aimed to evaluate a population of patients with ≥ 85 years old with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and compare the prognosis according to coronary revascularization execution. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 324 patients included in a national multicenter registry between October 2010 and October 2018, who underwent coronary angiography and had at least one stenosis ≥ 50%. RESULTS: In this population, 73.1% of the patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and 26.9% of the patients underwent optimized medical treatment (OMT). The OMT group had more past history of diabetes, stroke and dementia. On coronary angiography, the PCI group used more often the femoral artery access and single-vessel lesions were also more common. Three-vessel disease was more common in the OMT group. During hospitalization, there were more major bleeding events and death in the PCI group. During the one-year follow-up, there were no significant differences in all-cause mortality rate. CONCLUSIONS: Very old patients with NSTEMI submitted to OMT had more comorbidities and more three-vessel disease, factors that could have influenced the therapeutic decision. Patients undergoing PCI had more in-hospital major bleeding events and mortality, with no significant differences after one year.