Older age is known as a negative prognostic parameter in patients with acute
myocardial infarction (AMI). In this study, we aimed to investigate age-related
differences in treatment protocols, in-hospital and 1-year mortality. This
retrospective observational single-center study enrolled consecutive AMI patients
with an urgent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) as the main method of
myocardial revascularization. The patients divided were divided by age into group
I (65 years) and group II (65 years). The primary endpoint was
in-hospital mortality, the secondary endpoints were 1-year mortality and
rehospitalization rates. Of the 522 admitted with AMI, 476 were enrolled in the
study. The mean age was 67 13 years; 62% were men. Group I patients had
a significantly lower rate of performed PCI (65% vs. 79%, P
0.001). 53 patients (12.3%) died during hospitalization, and this proportion was
notably higher in the older population (20% vs. 6%, P 0.0001). The
cardiac causes of death were more frequent in group I patients (12% vs. 5.6%,
P = 0.016). The multivariate logistic regression selected two variables
as independent predictors for the risk of in-hospital death: age 65 years
(P = 0.0170), and Killip class at admission (P 0.0001). The
1-year mortality was 3.3%, slightly higher in group I patients (4.8% vs. 1.5%,
P = 0.05). In conclusion, patients aged 65 years have three
times higher in-hospital mortality, but similar 1-year mortality and readmission
rates when compared with the younger patients. It is obvious that there is a
large potential for improvement of the AMI care in this age group of patients.