Prognostic value of early post-infarction angina in elderly patients

Abstract

Although numerous studies have shown that early post-infarction angina was a predictor of poor prognosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction, not a single study has considered this issue in the elderly. The goal of this study, based on a five-year follow-up of elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction, was to determine whether early post-infarction angina in the elderly had any influence on mortality and the incidence of additional coronary events. The study population consisted of 51 patients, aged 60 years or more, with acute myocardial infarction. Early post-infarction angina occurred in 31 subjects (Group 1), while it did not in 20 subjects (Group 2). Patients were monitored for five years and the incidences of death and new coronary events were recorded. A survival analysis was carried out using the Kaplan-Meier method. The survival analysis showed no difference between the observed groups concerning the following probabilities: death (p=0.9459), cardiac death (p=0.8253), myocardial reinfarction (p=0.7405), new coronary events (p=0.1708), unstable angina (p=0.1788), myocardial revascularisation (p=0.0691), and heart failure (p=0.7047j. In contrast to the younger population, where numerous studies have confirmed the link between early post-infarction angina and poor long-term prognosis, such findings could not be replicated in this study of the elderly population.

Keywords

• myocardial infarction
• post-infarction angina
• elderly
• prognosis