Aims: To compare short-term safety and outcome of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the elderly in their ninth decade with those in their eighth decade.
Methods: Five-hundred and eighty-nine patients aged 70 years undergoing coronary angioplasty were stratified into two groups, those 80 years old (Group 1, n = 65) and those 70Eth 79 years old (Group 2, n = 524).
Results: Group 1 comprised more females than Group 2 (57% vs. 40%, respectively; p = 0.009), patients with hypertension (70% vs. 56%, respectively), untreated hyperlipidemia (18% vs. 7%, respectively), acute coronary syndromes (75% vs. 53%, respectively) and multi-vessel disease (63% vs. 54%, respectively). Angiographic success per lesion was similar in Groups 1 and 2 (96% vs. 99%, respectively) as was clinical success per lesion (89% vs. 89%, respectively). Groups 1 and 2 also had a similar incidence of in-hospital death (1.5% vs. 1.1%, respectively), Q-wave myocardial infarction (0.0% vs. 0.6%, respectively), non-Q wave myocardial infarction (6.2% vs. 2.9%, respectively), emergency coronary artery bypass surgery (0.0% vs. 1. 3%, respectively), repeat PCI (3.0% vs. 1.7%, respectively), stroke (1.5% vs. 0.4%, respectively) and local vascular complications (4.6% vs. 4.4%, respectively). However, Group 1 had a longer in-hospital stay (4 days) than Group 2 (2 days) (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Our data suggest that short-term procedural and clinical outcomes after PCI are similar for patients in their eighth decade compared to those in their ninth decade.