The purpose of this study was to assess the current care of elderly patients with non-ST–elevation acute coronary syndrome (ACS), with particular regard to the rate of use of antiplatelet drugs and the type of strategy, aggressive or conservative, in a population of consecutive patients admitted to 76 Coronary Care Units in Italy.

Prospective registry of patients admitted to Coronary Care Units with a diagnosis of non-ST–elevation ACS during a 2-month period. Thirty-day follow-up was available in all patients.

Of 1581 patients enrolled in the registry, 564 were 75 years or older. As compared with the 1017 younger patients, elderly patients had a greater prevalence of female sex (42% vs 27%, P < .001), hypertension (70% vs 59%, P < .001), prior myocardial infarction (MI) (41% vs 29%, P < .001), prior angina (18% vs 13%, P < .01), prior use of aspirin (49% vs 39%, P < .001), ST-segment depression (54% vs 43%, P < .001), and troponin positivity (66% vs 59%, P < .05). The higher-risk profile of elderly patients was confirmed by the greater number of patients with a high TIMI risk score (37% vs 22%, P < .001). GPIIb/IIIa inhibitors were less frequently used in elderly patients (P < .05). An aggressive strategy (coronary arteriography within 4 days of admission, followed by revascularization, if feasible) was adopted in 39% elderly patients and in 56% younger patients (P < .001). An interventional procedure within 30 days was performed in 30% of elderly patients and 48% of younger patients (P < .001). Elderly patients had a more unfavorable 30-day outcome compared with younger ones, as shown by the higher rates of death (6.4% vs 1.7%), acute myocardial infarction (7.1% vs 5%), and stroke (1.3% vs 0.5%). Multivariate analysis of the elderly group identified a conservative strategy (OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.20 to 4.48) and a diagnosis of non–Q-wave MI (OR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.32 to 3.93) as independent predictors of 30-day events.

The elderly represent a very high-risk subgroup among patients with non-ST–elevation ACS, with a nearly 4-fold as high 30-day death rate as that of younger patients. These data call for a greater attention to such population, both in terms of an improved representation in clinical research and of the assessment of the outcome of different strategies in appropriately designed randomized trials.