Short and long-term outcome in very old patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction after primary percutaneous coronary intervention

Background Although octogenarians constitute a fast-growing portion of cardiovascular patients, few data are available on the outcome of patients aged ≥ 85 years with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). Methods and Results We analyzed 126 consecutive patients aged ≥ 85 years (age 88 ± 2 years) with STEMI, undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) within 12 hours from symptoms onset. Long-term follow-up (median 898 days) was obtained for the 102 patients surviving the index-hospitalization. In-hospital mortality rate was 19%. Nonagenarians, diabetes mellitus, severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction and intra-aortic balloon pumping were significantly and independently correlated to in-hospital mortality at the multivariate analysis. A low rate of complications was detected. Among patients surviving the index hospitalization, 32 (31%) patients died during follow-up. 55 patients (54%) had re-hospitalization due to cardiovascular causes. The univariate analysis identified chronic renal failure, Killip class ≥ 3, TIMI Risk Score > 8 and very high risk of bleeding as predictors of long-term overall mortality. At the multivariate analysis only chronic renal failure and very high risk of bleeding were significantly and independently correlated to long-term all-cause mortality. Renal function and anterior myocardial infarction were significantly and independently associated with the combined end-point of cardiac mortality and re-hospitalization due to cardiovascular disease at the multivariate analysis. Conclusions PPCI in patients ≥ 85 years old is relatively safe. In this population, pPCI is associated with a good long-term survival, although still worse than in younger patients, despite a considerable incidence of re-hospitalization due to cardiovascular events.