Globally, ischaemic heart disease is the leading cause of death, with a higher mortality burden amongst older adults. Although advancing age is associated with a higher risk of adverse outcomes following acute coronary syndromes (ACS), older patients are less likely to receive evidence-based medications and coronary angiography. Guideline recommendations for managing ACS are often based on studies that exclude older patients, and more contemporary trials have been underpowered and produced inconsistent findings. There is also limited evidence for how frailty and comorbidity should influence management decisions. This review focuses on the current evidence base for the medical and percutaneous management of ACS in older patients and highlights the distinct need to enrol older patients with ACS into well-powered, large-scale randomised trials.
Background Frailty is associated with adverse outcomes in older patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The impact of frailty on long-term clinical outcomes following invasive management of non-ST elevation ACS (NSTEACS) is unknown. Methods The multi-centre ICON-1 prospective cohort study consisted of patients aged ≥75 years undergoing coronary angiography following NSTEACS. Patients were categorised by frailty assessed by Canadian Study of Health and Ageing Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and Fried criteria. The primary composite endpoint was all-cause mortality, unplanned revascularisation, myocardial infarction, stroke, and bleeding. Results Of 263 patients, 33 (12.5%) were frail, 152 (57.8%) were pre-frail and 78 (29.7%) were robust according to CFS. By Fried criteria, 70 patients (26.6%, mean age 82.1 years) were frail, 147 (55.9%, mean age 81.3 years) were pre-frail, and 46 (17.5%, mean age 79.9 years) were robust. The composite endpoint was more common at five years among patients with frailty according to CFS (frail: 22, 66.7%; pre-frail: 81, 53.3%; robust: 27, 34.6%, p = 0.003), with a similar trend when using Fried criteria (frail: 39, 55.7%; pre-frail: 72, 49.0%; robust: 16, 34.8%, p = 0.085). Frailty measured with both CFS, and Fried criteria was associated with the primary endpoint (Age and sex-adjusted hazard ratio [HR] compared to robust groups. CFS: 2.22, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.23-4.02, p = 0.008; Fried: HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.00-3.27, p = 0.048). Conclusion In older patients who underwent angiography following NSTEACS, frailty is associated with an increased risk of the primary composite endpoint at five years.
ObjectivesOlder adults have a higher degree of multimorbidity, which may adversely affect longer term outcomes from non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). We investigated the impact of multimorbidity on cardiovascular outcomes 5 years after invasive management of NSTE-ACS.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingMulticentre study conducted in the north of England.Participants298 patients aged ≥75 years with NSTE-ACS and referred for coronary angiography, with 264 (88.0%) completing 5-year follow-up.Main outcome measuresMultimorbidity was evaluated at baseline with the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). The primary composite outcome was all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, urgent repeat revascularisation or significant bleeding.ResultsMean age was 80.9 (±6.1) years. The cohort median CCI score was 5 (IQR 4–7). The primary composite outcome occurred in 48.1% at 5 years, at which time 31.0% of the cohort had died. Compared with those with few comorbidities (CCI score 3–5), a higher CCI score (≥6) was positively associated with the primary composite outcome (adjusted HR (aHR) 1.64 (95% CI 1.14 to 2.35), p=0.008 adjusted for age and sex), driven by an increased risk of death (aHR 2.20 (1.38 to 3.49), p=0.001). For each additional CCI comorbidity, on average, there was a 20% increased risk of the primary composite endpoint at 5 years (aHR 1.20 (1.09 to 1.33), p<0.001).ConclusionsIn older adults with NSTE-ACS referred for coronary angiography, the presence of multimorbidity is associated with an increased risk of long-term adverse cardiovascular events, driven by a higher risk of all-cause mortality.Trial registration numberNCT01933581; ClinicalTrials.gov.
Background: Angiographic and procedural characteristics stratified by frailty status are not known in older patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS). We evaluated angiographic and procedural characteristics in older adults with NSTEACS by frailty category, as well as associations of baseline and residual SYNTAX scores with long-term outcomes. Methods: In this study, 271 NSTEACS patients aged ≥75 years underwent coronary angiography. Frailty was assessed using the Fried criteria. Angiographic analysis was performed using QAngio® XA Medis in a core laboratory. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) consisted of all-cause mortality, MI, stroke or transient ischaemic attack, repeat unplanned revascularisation and significant bleeding. Results: Mean (±SD) patient age was 80.5 ± 4.9 years. Compared with robust patients, patients with frailty had more severe culprit lesion calcification (OR 5.40; 95% CI [1.75–16.8]; p=0.03). In addition, patients with frailty had a smaller mean improvement in culprit lesion stenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (50.6%; 95% CI [45.7–55.6]) than robust patients (58.6%; 95% CI [53.5–63.7]; p=0.042). There was no association between frailty phenotype and completeness of revascularisation (OR 0.83; 95% CI [0.36–1.93]; p=0.67). A high baseline SYNTAX score (≥33) was associated with adjusted (age and sex) 5-year MACE (HR 1.40; 95% CI [1.08–1.81]; p=0.01), as was a high residual SYNTAX score (≥8; adjusted HR 1.22; 95% CI [1.00–1.49]; p=0.047). Conclusion: Frail adults presenting with NSTEACS have more severe culprit lesion calcification. Frail adults were just as likely as robust patients to receive complete revascularisation. Baseline and residual SYNTAX score were associated with MACE at 5 years.
We summarise the international guidelines surrounding risk stratification as well as discuss new emerging data for future development of a new risk model in the management of patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). NSTE-ACS accounts for the bulk of acute coronary syndrome presentations in the UK, but management strategies in this group of patients have remained a subject of debate for decades. Patients with NSTE-ACS represent a heterogeneous population with a wide variation in short-term and long-term clinical outcomes, which makes a uniform, standardised treatment approach ineffective and inappropriate. Studies in the modern era have provided some guidance in treating this subset of patients: the provision of early, more potent therapies has been shown to improve outcomes in patients at a particularly elevated risk of adverse outcomes. International guidelines recommend adopting an individualised treatment approach through the use of validated risk prediction models to identify such patients at high risk of adverse outcomes. The present available evidence, however, is based on dated demographics, different diagnostic thresholds and outdated therapies. In particular, the evidence has limited applicability to female patients and older people with frailty. Moreover, the current risk models do not capture key prognostic variables, leading to an inaccurate estimation of patients’ baseline risk and subsequent mistreatment. Therefore, the current risk models are no longer fit for purpose and there is a need for risk prediction scores that account for different population demographics, higher sensitivity troponin assays and contemporary treatment options.
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