Complete versus partial revascularization for older adults with acute coronary syndrome: a meta-analysis and systematic review of randomized and multivariable adjusted data.

Background: Evidence from randomized studies support complete over culprit-only revascularization for patients with acute coronary artery syndrome (ACS) and multivessel coronary artery diseases (MVD). Whether these findings extend to elderly patients, however, has not been thoroughly explored.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing clinical outcomes of elderly individuals (defined as age ≥75 years) with ACS and MVD submitted to complete vs partial-only percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane were searched. We computed pooled hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI) to preserve time time-to-event data.

Results: We included 7 studies, of which 2 were RCT and 5 were multivariable adjusted cohorts, comprising a total 10 147, of whom 43.8% underwent complete revascularization. As compared with partial-only PCI, complete revascularization was associated with a lower all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 0.71; 95% CI 0.60-0.85; P < 0.01), cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio 0.64; 95% CI 0.52-0.79; P < 0.01), and recurrent myocardial infarction (hazard ratio 0.65; 95% CI 0.50-0.85; P < 0.01). There was no significant difference between groups regarding the risk of revascularizations (hazard ratio 0.80; 95% CI 0.53-1.20; P = 0.28).

Conclusion: Among elderly patients with ACS and multivessel CAD, complete revascularization is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and recurrent myocardial infarction.