Clinical Interventions in Aging (May 2020)
Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Elderly Patients with Coronary Chronic Total Occlusions: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives
Abstract
Lei Guo,1 Hai-Chen Lv,1 Rong-Chong Huang2 1Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Cardiology, Capital Medical University Affiliated Beijing Friendship Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Lei Guo Email [email protected]: The proportion of the elderly in the total population of the world is growing, and the number of elderly patients with coronary chronic total occlusions (CTO) is huge. The elderly patients often have more extensive coronary artery disease, more severe ischemic burden and higher risk of cardiovascular events, as compared to younger patients, and thereby they might greatly benefit from coronary revascularization, even though they may have higher risk of operative complications. Most interventional cardiologists are more likely to be reluctant to operate complex percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in elderly patients. The latest refinements in dedicated CTO-PCI equipment and techniques have led to high rates of success and low complications rates and have made the CTO-PCI procedures safe and effective among the elderly patients. However, up to now, there is no widely recognized consensus or guideline on treatment strategy of elderly CTO patients, and the prognosis in this population is unknown. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of the current evidence and future perspectives on PCI in elderly patients with CTOs.Keywords: coronary chronic total occlusions, elderly, percutaneous coronary intervention
