Normal coronary angiogram at 65 predicts survival

(HealthDay)—Patients with normal or near-normal coronary angiogram (CA) results at age 65 years or older have significantly longer survival than the general population, according to a study published in the Nov. 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

Abel E. Moreyra, M.D., from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J., and colleagues identified 160 patients with normal CA (NORM group) and 111 patients with <30 percent diameter stenosis disease (NEAR-NORM). The probability of survival and the risk of developing an ischemic event or undergoing a revascularization procedure during an average of 15.1 years of follow-up were determined using the Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System. Survival was compared with that of the general population using matched actuarial subjects.

The researchers found that the incidence of an ischemic event was similarly low for both groups (two events per 100 people/year for NORM versus 2.8 patients per 100 people/year for NEAR-NORM). The NEAR-NORM group had a significantly higher rate of revascularization than the NORM group (one per 100 people/year versus 0.5 per 100 people/year). Over 25.8 years of follow-up, 48.4 percent in the NORM group died, as did 57.1 percent in the NEAR-NORM group. Both groups survived longer than the actuarial subjects (1,517 more days for the NORM group and 875 more days for the NEAR-NORM group).

"Patients with normal or near-normal CA at age ≥65 years have a low rate of myocardial ischemic events and have significantly longer survival than matched subjects from the general population," the authors write.

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