Clinical outcomes of elderly South-East Asian patients in primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST- elevation myocardial infarction

Objective To evaluate the clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of elderly South-East Asian patients undergoing primary pereutaneous coronary intervention （PPCI）. Methods From January 2009 to December 2012, 1268 patients （86.4% male, mean age of 58,4 ± 12.2 years） presented to our hospital for ST-elevation myocardial infarction （STEMI） and underwent PPCI. They were divided into two groups： elderly group defined as age _〉 70 years and non-elderly group defined as age 〈 70 years. Data were collected retrospectively on baseline clinical characteristics, door-to-balloon （D2B） time, angiographic findings, therapeutic modality and hospital course. Results The elderly group constituted 19% of the study population with mean age 76.6 ± 5.0 years. There was a higher proportion of female gender and ethnic Chinese patients in the elderly group when compared with the non-elderly group. The former was less likely to be smokers and have a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension. The mean D2B time was significantly longer in the elderly group. They also had a significantly higher incidence of triple vessel disease and obstructive left main disease. The use of radial artery access, glyeoprotein 2b/3a inhibitors and drug-eluting stents during PPCI were also significantly lower. In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in the elderly group. The rate of cardiogenic shock and inhospital complications were also significantly higher. Conclusions Our registry showed that in-hospital mortality rate in elderly South-East Asian patients undergoing PPCI for STEMI was high. Further studies into the optimal STEMI management strat- egy for these elderly patients are warranted.