Catheterization increasing for seniors with STEMI

(HealthDay)—From 1999 to 2009 there was a decrease in the proportion of older adults with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) who did not undergo cardiac catheterization, according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Mayra Tisminetzky, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worchester, and colleagues conducted a population-based study among individuals aged 65 years and older hospitalized for STEMI. Data were collected for 960 patients in six biennial periods between 1999 and 2009 at 11 central Massachusetts medical centers.

The researchers observed dramatic declines in the proportion of older adults who did not undergo cardiac catheterization (from 59.4 percent in 1999 to 7.5 percent in 2009). These decreases were seen among those aged 65 to 74 years and among those aged 75 years and older (58.4 to 6.7 percent and 69.4 to 13.5 percent, respectively). From 1999 to 2009 there was a decrease in the proportion of individuals not undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention after cardiac catheterization, from 36.6 to 6.5 percent. These procedures were less likely to be undertaken by women, those with a previous myocardial infarction, those with do-not-resuscitate orders, and those with various comorbidities.

"Older adults who develop an STEMI are increasingly likely to undergo cardiac catheterization and PCI, but several high-risk groups remain less likely to undergo these procedures," the authors write.

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