Cardiovascular disease in the elderly: proceedings of the European Society of Cardiology-Cardiovascular Round Table.

The growing elderly population worldwide represents a major challenge for caregivers, healthcare providers, and society. Older patients have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) disease, high rates of CV risk factors, and multiple age-related comorbidities. Although prevention and management strategies have been shown to be effective in older people, they continue to be under-used, and under-studied. In addition to hard endpoints, frailty, cognitive impairments, and patients' re-assessment of important outcomes (e.g. quality of life vs. longevity) are important aspects for older patients and emphasize the need to include a substantial proportion of older patients in CV clinical trials. To complement the often skewed age distribution in clinical trials, greater emphasis should be placed on real-world studies to assess longer-term outcomes, especially safety and quality of life outcomes. In the complex environment of the older patient, a multidisciplinary care team approach with the involvement of the individual patient in the decision-making process can help optimize prevention and management strategies. This article aims to demonstrate the growing burden of ageing in real life and illustrates the need to continue primary prevention to address CV risk factors. It summarizes factors to consider when choosing pharmacological and interventional treatments for the elderly and the need to consider quality of life and patient priorities when making decisions.

Cardiovascular care of older adults.

Age is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. With the accelerated growth of the population of older adults, geriatric and cardiac care are becoming increasingly entwined. Although cardiovascular disease in younger adults often occurs as an isolated problem, it is more likely to occur in combination with clinical challenges related to age in older patients. Management of cardiovascular disease is transmuted by the context of multimorbidity, frailty, polypharmacy, cognitive dysfunction, functional decline, and other complexities of age. This means that additional insight and skills are needed to manage a broader range of relevant problems in older patients with cardiovascular disease. This review covers geriatric conditions that are relevant when treating older adults with cardiovascular disease, particularly management considerations. Traditional practice guidelines are generally well suited for robust older adults, but many others benefit from a relatively more personalized therapeutic approach that allows for a range of medical circumstances and idiosyncratic goals of care. This requires weighing of risks and benefits amidst the patient's aggregate clinical status and the ability to communicate effectively about this with patients and, where appropriate, their care givers in a process of shared decision making. Such a personalized approach can be particularly gratifying, as it provides opportunities to optimize an older patient's function and quality of life at a time in life when these often become foremost therapeutic priorities.

Acute coronary syndrome patients admitted to a cardiology vs non-cardiology service: variations in treatment & outcome.

BACKGROUND: Specialized cardiology services have contributed to reduced mortality in acute coronary syndromes (ACS).  We sought to evaluate the outcomes of ACS patients admitted to non-cardiology services in Southern Alberta. METHODS: Retrospective chart review performed on all troponin-positive patients in the Calgary Health Region identified those diagnosed with ACS by their attending team. Patients admitted to non-cardiology and cardiology services were compared, using linked data from the Alberta Provincial Project for Outcomes Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease (APPROACH) registry and the Strategic Clinical Network for Cardiovascular Health and Stroke. RESULTS: From January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2008, 2105 ACS patients were identified, with 1636 (77.7%) admitted to cardiology and 469 (22.3%) to non-cardiology services. Patients admitted to non-cardiology services were older, had more comorbidities, and rarely received cardiology consultation (5.1%). Cardiac catheterization was underutilized (5.1% vs 86.4% in cardiology patients (p < 0.0001)), as was evidence-based pharmacotherapy (p < 0.0001). Following adjustment for baseline comorbidities, 30-day through 4-year mortality was significantly higher on non-cardiology vs. cardiology services (49.1% vs. 11.0% respectively at 4-years, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: In a large ACS population in the Calgary Health Region, 25% were admitted to non-cardiology services. These patients had worse outcomes, despite adjustment for baseline risk factor differences. Although many patients were appropriately admitted to non-cardiology services, the low use of investigations and secondary prevention medications may contribute to poorer patient outcome. Further research is required to identify process of care strategies to improve outcomes and lessen the burden of illness for patients and the health care system.

Considerations in Cardiac Revascularization for the Elderly Patient: Age Isn't Everything.

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality even in the elderly population. Treatment opportunities in the elderly population are often underappreciated. Revascularization procedures (coronary artery bypass graft surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention) can be associated with important benefits in symptom control, quality of life, and long-term mortality, at an upfront cost of an increased risk of in-hospital mortality and morbidity. Risk models to assess periprocedural risk are useful. The best models would balance unique aspects of risk with the very real potential benefit of revascularization. Current models fall short in this regard. Frailty, a clinical syndrome of vulnerability, is present in 25%-50% of cardiac patients, and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The addition of frailty can improve the discrimination of risk models. Elderly patients commonly consider quality of life to have greater importance than mortality outcomes. Furthermore, hospital admission is associated with a reduction in mobilization, loss of muscle strength, and worsening frailty, and interferes with a fundamental value in the elderly: the maintenance of independence. Therefore, an understanding of frailty, quality of life, and other unique aspects of risk, as well as individual patient goals, can assist in further defining prognosis and refine decision-making in this important and vulnerable population.

Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Older Adults.

Primary prevention of cardiovascular events in older adults is challenging because of a general paucity of evidence for safe and efficacious therapy. Furthermore, there is no validated cardiovascular risk assessment tool for older adults (≥75 years of age), yet most are intermediate-to high-risk. Assessment of cardiovascular risk should include a discussion of the potential benefits and risks of therapy, and allow for incorporation of the patients' values and preferences, functionality and/or frailty, comorbidities, and concomitant medications (eg, polypharmacy, drug-drug interactions, adherence). The best available evidence for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events in older adults is for statin therapy and blood pressure control. Statin therapy reduces the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke, although close monitoring for adverse events is warranted. Evidence does not support an association between statin therapy and either cognitive impairment or cancer. Rates of adverse effects, such as myopathy and diabetes, do not appear to be increased in elderly patients. Blood pressure control is also paramount to prevent cardiovascular events and mortality in elderly patients, although the target is debatable and should be individualized to the patient. Conversely, the benefit of antiplatelet therapy in primary prevention does not appear to outweigh the risk, and should not be recommended. Other interventions shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in elderly patients include smoking cessation, physical activity, and maintaining a normal body weight.

Weekend compared with weekday presentation does not affect outcomes of patients presenting with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome.

AIM: In non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTEACS), early invasive management improves survival. However, since treatment strategies are urgent, not emergent, decisions to postpone invasive management due to weekend admission could affect outcome. METHODS: Using the Alberta Provincial Project for Outcomes Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease (APPROACH), a population-based registry capturing all cardiac admissions in southern Alberta, we compared time to cardiac catheterization, modality of revascularization, and crude and risk-adjusted mortality for NSTEACS patients presenting on weekends vs. weekdays. From 1 April 2005 to 31 October 2010, 11,981 patients were admitted to care facilities in southern Alberta (32.1% on weekends and 67.9% on weekdays). RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were similar. Mean time to cardiac catheterization was 67.2 h in the weekend group, compared to 62.4 h in the weekday group (p=0.03), with 34.7% of weekend and 45.1% of weekday patients receiving catheterization within 24 h of admission (p<0.0001), and 49.1 and 59.9%, respectively, within 48 h (p=0.002). Mortality at 30 days was 2.2% in the weekend group compared to 2.0% in the weekday group (p=0.58). The crude hazard ratio (HR) for 30-day mortality in the weekend group was 1.08 (95% CI 0.83-1.40). After adjusting for baseline risk factors, the HR for mortality remained non-significant (HR 1.06, 95% CI 0.82-1.38). Mortality at 1 year was also similar. CONCLUSIONS: In a large unselected population of NSTEACS patients, weekend admission was associated with modest delays (4.8 h) in time to catheterization, but not with increased 30-day or 1-year mortality.