Long-term outcomes after invasive management for older patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction

Early invasive management is recommended for patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (MI), but the incidence of long-term outcomes after early catheterization among older patients and the relationship of revascularization procedures with outcomes in this population have not been described.

Using data from the Can Rapid Risk Stratification of Unstable Angina Patients Suppress Adverse Outcomes With Early Implementation of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines (CRUSADE) registry, we linked 19 336 older patients (≥65 years) with non-ST-segment elevation MI found to have significant coronary disease during catheterization and who survived through 30 days posthospital discharge to Medicare/Medicaid data. All-cause mortality, readmission for MI, readmission for stroke, and use of repeat revascularization procedures were tracked for a median of 1181 days. Outcome comparisons were stratified by use of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; n=11 766, 60.8%) or coronary artery bypass grafting (n=3515, 18.2%) performed during the index hospitalization and through 30 days postdischarge, as well as by medical management without revascularization (n=4055, 21.0%). During follow-up, ≈17% of patients underwent PCI (most commonly in patients initially treated with PCI), and only 3% of patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting. Compared with an unadjusted long-term mortality cumulative incidence through 5 years of 50% in the medical management group, mortality was lower in the PCI group (33.5%; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.70-0.79) and lowest in the coronary artery bypass grafting group (24.2%; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.52; 95% confidence interval, 0.47-0.57; P<0.001 for 3-way comparisons). The unadjusted cumulative incidence of the composite of death, readmission for MI, or readmission for stroke at 5 years was 62.4%, 44.9%, and 33.0% for medical management, PCI, and coronary artery bypass grafting, respectively.

Older patients with non-ST-segment elevation MI with significant coronary disease face high long-term risks for mortality and nonfatal cardiovascular outcomes after early catheterization that differ by type of revascularization procedure performed. These findings can help guide the design of studies evaluating long-term therapies among elderly post-MI patients.