Non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome in patients aged 80 years or older in Vietnam: An observational study

There is limited evidence of non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) in patients aged 80 or older in Vietnam.

To describe the clinical characteristics of patients aged≥80 with NSTE-ACS in Vietnam, and to examine the effect of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on adverse outcomes.

Consecutive patients aged ≥80 with a diagnosis of NSTE-ACS admitted to two tertiary hospitals in Vietnam from 12/2018 to 06/2019 were recruited. The major outcomes were: (1) the composite of all-cause mortality, recurrent myocardial infarction and stroke, (2) re-admission rate during 3 months. Cox proportional-hazards regressions were conducted to examine the impact of PCI on the study outcomes, with results presented as hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

There were 120 participants, mean age 84.8 ± 3.8, 50% were female. Angiography and PCI were performed in 42 participants (35.0%). Most of the participants had multimorbidity and multiple coronary vessel disease. Compared to participants who did not receive PCI, participants who received PCI had significantly lower rates of adverse events during hospitalisation and during 3 months of follow up. Cox proportional hazards models adjusted to age and GRACE score show that PCI was significantly associated with reduced the composite outcome of all-cause mortality, recurrent myocardial infarction and stroke during 3 months follow-up (adjusted HR 0.32, 95%CI 0.12-0.86). PCI was also associated with reduced re-admission.

The rate of PCI was low in the very elderly patients with NSTE-ACS in this study, although PCI was significantly associated with reduced adverse outcomes.