Only few studies reported the outcomes of thrombolysis among elderly patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), which results in a controversial benefit-risk ratio and a lower usage rate of thrombolysis in this population.

The aim of the present study was to compare efficacy and safety of thrombolysis therapy with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (p-PCI) in patients aged ≥70 years old.

Data from 2841 patients (mean age: 78.1±5.6 years, female: 36.1%) included in a prospective multicenter registry, and who underwent either thrombolysis therapy (N=269) or p-PCI (N=2572), were analyzed. The primary endpoint was in-hospital major adverse cardio-vascular events (MACE) defined as the composite of all-cause mortality, non-fatal MI, stroke and definite stent thrombosis (ST). Secondary endpoints included all-cause death, BARC 3 or 5 major bleeding, net adverse clinical events (NACE) and the development of in-hospital Killip class III or IV heart failure. Propensity-score matching and conditional logistic regression were used to adjust for confounders.

Within the matched cohort, rates of MACE was not statistically different between the thrombolysis (N=247) and pPCI (N=958) groups, (11.3% vs. 9.0% respectively, OR: 1.25, 95% CI: 0.81–1.94; P=0.31). Secondary endpoints were comparable between groups at the exception of a significant difference for the development of Killip class III or IV heart failure in favor of the thrombolysis group (3.3% vs. 9.3%, OR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.18–0.79; P=0.01) (Fig 1).

Thrombolysis may be a safe and effective strategy in selected elderly patients, which may reduce the development of severe heart failure without a higher major bleeding rate.