Clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes of stents implantation for elderly patients with coronary artery disease

Objective To evaluate the clinical characteristics and the long-term outcomes of elderly patients with coronary artery disease who underwent stents implantation. Methods Clinical data about 632 patients who underwent stents implantation in the department of cardiology of Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2007 to January 2009 were analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups according to age: more than 65 years old group and less than 65 years old group. The major adverse cardiac events (MACE) of patients were observed by telephone follow-up, interview at clinic or coronary angiography in March 2012. Results There were statistically significant differences in the proportion between＜ 65 years old group and≥65 years old group on hypertension (72.4% vs 59.5%, P=0.001), female (24.5% vs 16.8%, P=0.02) and smoking (27.2% vs 53.6%, P=0.001). There was no significant difference of MACE between the two groups (12.8% vs 9.1%, P=0.15). However, there was significant difference of all-cause mortality between the two groups (5.5% vs 1.3%, P=0.004). In the three lesions of the coronary angiography, there showed no difference of MACE between the two groups of patients with multi-vessel coronary disease (14.0% vs 8.6%, P=0.23). Conclusion The study indicates that the elder patients should control blood pressure actively and the hospital should strengthen screening on female elder patients. It is safe and effective of elderly patients with coronary artery disease to undergo stents implantation on long-term.