BACKGROUND: Elderly patients constitute a rapidly growing proportion of the population, and hence the increasing rises in the number of patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), which is now established as the preferred reperfusion strategy in STEMI patients, has been inadequately investigated in this high-risk group. The aim of the present study was to investigate the in-hospital and 6-month outcomes of primary PCI in elderly patients (≥ 75 years) with STEMI.

METHODS: A total of 100 elderly patients with STEMI including those with cardiogenic shock were included. Primary PCI procedures were performed in a tertiary referral center between 2009 and 2014. In-hospital, 6-month outcomes of patients were recorded and analyzed.

RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 79.6 ± 3.8 years (range = 75-90 years) and 27.0% were women. Cardiovascular risk factors and prior events were common. Nearly, half of the patients had three-vessel disease and the left anterior descending artery (LAD) was the most common infarct-related artery. The presence of cardiogenic shock but not the other variables was associated with less anatomic and procedural success (P < 0.001). It was also the major independent predictors of 6-month mortality in the patients aged ≥ 75 years, [hazard ratio (HR) = 8.02; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.75-25.97, P < 0.001]. In-hospital mortality was 2.4% in the patients without and 83.0% in those with cardiogenic shock.