Objective: To determine whether advanced age is an independent prognostic factor that may increase the risk of complications and reduce the immediate and long-term survival after treatment with intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP) for acute ischemic heart disease.
Design: Retrospective analysis of a clinical series and long-term follow-up study.
Patients: A total of 142 patients (age range 23-86 years) in whom IABP was indicated following a standardized protocol.
Measurements: Univariate analysis of the association between age and anamnestic, clinical, and hemodynamic data significantly affecting prognosis; multivariate logistic regression analysis of variables showing significant associations.
Results: IABP-related complications were independent of age. At univariate analysis, pre-existing, noncardiac, associated conditions (chronic renal failure, stroke, bronchopulmonary disease) (P < .001), an indication to IABP for hemodynamic complications of acute myocardial infarction rather than for medically refractory myocardial ischemia (P < .001), a lack in hemodynamic response to IABP (P < .002), a prolonged delay to IABP initiation (P < .003), and advanced age (P < .025) were all predictors of in-hospital mortality. However, older patients were also more frequently affected by chronic comorbid conditions and by acute left ventricular failure as an indication to IABP. When these variables were entered into logistic regression models, the association between age and mortality was no longer statistically significant. Similarly, advancing age was associated (P < .012) with an increased mortality rate during an average follow-up of 94 +/- 9 months, but, again, such a significant association disappeared when simultaneously adjusting for New York Heart Association functional class, which was the single most important predictor of long-term mortality.
Conclusions: Several anamnestic and clinical variables, rather than advanced age itself, are independent, prognostic factors negatively affecting the outcome of treatment with IABP. Technique-related complications are independent of age. Thus, old age should not be considered as a criterion to exclude any patient, a priori, from the potential benefits of this type of cardiocirculatory assistance.