Impact of Coronary Intervention on In-Hospital Mortality in Octogenarians and Nonagenarians, Compared to Elderly Patients Aged < 80 Years with Acute Coronary Syndromes

Abstract

Background

Given that the Australian population is aging, with older patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), its management over the past 20 years is likely to have changed.

Methods

Retrospective observational study from the New South Wales statewide Admission Patient Data Collection database of those aged ≥ 65 years hospitalized for ACS between January 2002 and December 2021. Patients were stratified into 3 age groups: 65-79 years, 80-89 years, ≥ 90 years). Temporal trends of ACS, coronary angiogram (CA), and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and in-hospital mortality were evaluated. Multivariable analysis was used to adjust for baseline profiles and year of admission in mortality analysis.

Results

The study cohort comprised 118,608 patients (56.7% aged 65-79 years [n = 67,211]; 34.1% aged 80-89 years [n = 40,452]; 9.2% aged ≥ 90 years [n = 10,945]). Those aged 65-79 years, compared to older groups, had proportionally more male patients, with higher rates of ischemic heart disease, diabetes, smoking history, prior PCI and/or surgical bypass revascularization, and obesity. Heart failure, chronic pulmonary and renal disease, and dementia were more common in the older age groups. Proportionally, ST-elevation myocardial infarction decreased over time, whereas non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction rates increased. Although fewer CAs were performed in the older age groups, PCI rates in those who had CA were higher in those aged ≥ 80 years. Multivariable analysis showed that in-hospital mortality fell 49% in the group admitted in 2017 or later, vs in 2006 or earlier; for the younger, vs the older age groups, mortality fell by 55.4%, 52.5%, and 44.6%, respectively. The group aged ≥ 90 years had 3.1-fold higher adjusted odds of in-hospital death, compared to the group aged 65-79 years.

Conclusions

Over the past 2 decades, with increasing rates of coronary intervention, rates of in-hospital mortality in the elderly decreased, but older patients continue to have poorer outcomes following ACS.