Interventional Cardiology in the Elderly

This book provides an in depth review of the current practice in treating elderly patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) as well as an update of the existing literature. It is intended to reflect the current science of elderly patients with stable angina, acute coronary syndromes and those patients who are forwarded for CAGB procedures. Evidence in the elderly patient group is often limited and/or non-existent therefore the main challenge, even for further research, will be to define the role of geriatric preconditions and its impact on outcome. A second topic will be to clarify how, if ever, existing cardiological outcome values like mortality can be applied to elderly patients or if other values like improvement of functional status or quality of life are more suitable parameters to measure interventional success in elderly patients. The role of pharmacotherapy in advanced age has to be discussed. These topics will be embedded in epidemiological, pathophysiological and ethical aspects of interventional treatment of CAD in older age.