Changing patterns of patient characteristics in the cath lab from 1998 to 2006: a single-centre retrospective
Tamer Sayin1, Timuçin Altin, Ozgür Ozcan
1Ankara University, Department of Cardiology, Ankara, Turkey. tamsay@hotmail.com
Insights
Interventional cardiology patients are older and have more severe coronary artery disease now than a decade ago. More percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) are being performed to treat these complex cases.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Interventional Cardiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Limited data exists on long-term changes in cardiac catheterization laboratory (cath lab) patient demographics and clinical profiles.
- Understanding these shifts is crucial for adapting healthcare strategies and resource allocation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze changes in the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients undergoing cardiac catheterization over an approximately eight-year period.
- To compare patient profiles between two distinct time points to identify trends in cardiovascular disease presentation and management.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of cath lab records and patient charts for 1000 patients.
- Data collection focused on demographic variables, clinical conditions, and laboratory results.
- Patients were divided into two cohorts: 499 from January-March 1998 and 501 from January-March 2006.
Main Results:
- The 2006 cohort was significantly older (mean age 62.2 vs. 57.5 years) and had higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus.
- Rates of multivessel coronary artery disease increased, while single-vessel disease decreased between 1998 and 2006.
- The number of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) performed showed a trend towards increase in the 2006 cohort.
Conclusions:
- Interventional cardiology patients today are older and present with more severe coronary artery disease compared to a decade prior.
- An increasing trend in the utilization of PCI was observed, reflecting evolving treatment strategies for complex coronary artery disease.
Background:
There are few data on the change in the profile of cath lab patients over long time intervals.
Methods:
We retrospectively analysed our cath lab records, patient charts, in terms of demographic variables, clinical and laboratory characteristics in a thousand patients (499 patients in 1998 January-March, 501 patients in 2006 January-March).
Results:
Mean age was significantly higher in the 2006 cohort (57.5 +/- 11 vs. 62.2 +/- 10.8, P < 0.001). Gender was similar in both cohorts (men 68.5% vs. women 69.9%, P = 0.65). Both hypertension and diabetes mellitus were more prevalent in the 2006 cohort (613% vs. 49.3 and 30.3 vs. 17.6 respectively, P < 0.001 for both). Smoking rates (past or active) did not differ between the cohorts. Rates of normal or near normal coronary angiograms were somewhat elevated in both cohorts (36.7% in 1998 and 39.1% in 2006). Rates of multivessel disease (2-3 vessel disease) tended to increase and rates of single-vessel disease tended to decrease from the 1998 cohort to the 2006 cohort (27.7% to 34.4% and 35.7% to 26.7%, P = 0.006). The number of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) performed increased with a borderline statistical significance in the 2006 cohort (32% vs. 38.5%, P = 0.053).
Conclusions:
Our data indicates that today interventional cardiologists face an older and more severely diseased cath lab patient population compared with a decade earlier. In comparison with 1998, more PCIs were performed.
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