[Prognostic value of ECG changes detected by Holter monitoring in silent ischemic heart disease in the aged].

Ischemic Cardiomiopathy (IC) is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly and its incidence increases progressively with age. Holter monitoring (HM) is used to study IC which reveals asymptomatic ischemic episodes identifiable with the depression of the ST tract. It has been demonstrated that these electric manifestations have the same unfavourable diagnostic value as those accompanied by pain. In order to evaluate the prevalence and prognostic significance of episodes of silent myocardial ischemia in the elderly patient, we examined 99 consecutive patients with stable clinical symptoms of myocardial ischemia and a positive ergometric test (ET). The patients were randomly divided according to age (< or = 65 years, >65 years) into two groups with homogeneous clinical feature, except for a higher prevalence of women in the second group. The HM analysis, carried out for 24 hours during common every day activities and after suspending anti-ischemic therapy, showed that 62 patients (63%) had 289 episodes of electric ischemia; 216 (75%) of these were asymptomatic, and, in the group of elderly there was a higher incidence of ST depression unaccompanied by pain (A vs B = 86 vs 132 episodes, p < 0.001). Comparing the patients with and without anamnestic evidence of myocardial infarction it was found that the first group presented a higher prevalence of ST depression both asymptomatic and symptomatic (147 vs 71 silent episodes, p < 0.001, and 49 vs 24 symptomatic episodes, p = 0.015 respectively), while no statistically significant differences were found between the two age groups. Electric alterations of the asymptomatic ischemic kind were more often found in subjects with stable angina, above all if elderly; this is important from a prognostic point of view as few elderly patients are capable of performing a maximal TE and it is thus significant of reduced coronary reserve. From our data we observed that in patients with stable angina, especially if elderly, Holter revealed asymptomatic ST depression analyzed considering both its length and magnitude, is able to give prognostic evidence of subsequent coronary events.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes