Background: The aim of this study was to provide insight into the real-life clinical presentation and outcomes of the elderly presenting with acute myocardial infarction from the Turkish Myocardial Infarction registry database.

Methods: TURKMI was a nationwide, multicenter, observational, 15-day snapshot registry conducted to address the management of acute myocardial infarction patients admitted to percutaneous intervention-capable hospitals. The present analysis included the comparison of consecutively enrolled acute myocardial infarction patients aged ≥75 and <75 years.

Results: Of the overall 1930 patients, 362 patients were aged ≥75 years. Elderly patients were more likely to have hypertension and renal failure and less likely to have hypercholesterolemia. Elderly patients were admitted to hospitals almost 1 hour later mainly due to a late call to emergency medical service. At discharge, medical therapies were significantly less prescribed to the elderly. The proportion of patients undergoing coronary angiography was significantly lower in elderly (81.8% vs. 96.4%, P <.001). Both in-hospital and 1-year mortality were significantly higher in elderly patients (9.1% vs. 2.7% and 22.7% vs. 5.8%, P <.001 respectively). The adjusted risk of 1-year mortality was 4-fold in elderly (hazard ratio and 95% CI 4.0 [2.9-5.6], P <.001). In multivariate analysis, every 5-beat/min increase in heart rate increased mortality by 7%. Higher heart rate and use of antiplatelet agents on admission were predictors of mortality in elderly.

Conclusion: In real-life settings, elderly patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction are prone to prolonged total ischemic time and are subjected to less-intensive medical treatment and interventional approaches. Besides age, the increased heart rate could be the major determinant of mortality.