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Cardiovascular findings in self-reported healthy elderly. The Elite Seniors Study
Background:
A descriptive study of self-reported healthy elderly in Newcastle was undertaken for an adequate understanding of the normal characteristics of the elderly.
Aims:
We sought to determine the frequency of abnormal clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic findings in a self-reported healthy elderly population.
Methods:
Volunteers aged greater than 75 years were recruited from active members of the region's bowling clubs. Forty-five subjects with no self-reported vascular or cardiac disease underwent clinical, laboratory and echocardiography assessment.
Results:
Minor cardiovascular abnormalities were frequently detected. Echocardiography correspondingly found a high frequency of haemodynamically insignificant degenerative valvular lesions. Doppler left ventricular filling pattern of abnormal relaxation was a universal finding.
Conclusion:
There is a high prevalence of age-related echo-Doppler abnormalities in the self-reported healthy elderly with important implications for the interpretation of echo-Doppler studies.