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BACKGROUND Patients with delayed presentation of acute myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation (STEMI) frequently have a poor prognosis but literature about acute complications in intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU) and in-hospital outcome are still limited. METHODS All STEMI patients admitted to our institution between June 2007 and December 2013 were divided into patients presenting more than 12 h after symptom onset (lateSTEMI) and within 12 h (STEMI). Baselines clinical features including details about treatment of choice were collected. Major acute complications in ICCU and in-hospital mortality were the main end-points. RESULTS A total of 1372 patients were included, 147 (10.8%) were lateSTEMI. In ICCU lateSTEMI patients compared with STEMI patients experienced more frequently heart failure (75, 51.2% vs. 298, 24.3%; P

Background— Clinical observational studies on heart failure (HF) deal mostly with hospitalized patients, few with chronic outpatients, all with no or limited longitudinal observation. Methods and Results— This is a multicenter, nationwide, prospective observational trial on a population of 5610 patients, 1855 hospitalized for acute HF (AHF) and 3755 outpatients with chronic HF (CHF), followed up for 1 year. The cumulative total mortality rate at 1 year was 24% in AHF (19.2% in 797 patients with de novo HF and 27.7% in 1058 with worsening HF) and 5.9% in CHF. Cardiovascular deaths accounted for 73.1% and 65.3% and HF deaths for 42.4% and 40.5% of total deaths in AHF and CHF patients, respectively. One-year hospitalization rates were 30.7% in AHF and 22.7% in CHF patients. Among the independent predictors of 1-year all-cause death, age, low systolic blood pressure, anemia, and renal dysfunction were identified in both acute and chronic patients. A few additional variables were significant only in AHF (signs of cerebral hypoperfusion, low serum sodium, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and acute pulmonary edema), whereas others were observed only in CHF patients (lower body mass index, higher heart rate, New York Heart Association class, large QRS, and severe mitral regurgitation). Conclusions— In this contemporary data set, patients with CHF had a relatively low mortality rate compared with those with AHF. Rates of adverse outcomes in patients admitted for AHF remain very high either in-hospital or after discharge. Most deaths were cardiovascular in origin and ≈40% of deaths were directly related to HF.

Guideline-recommended therapies for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) derive from randomized trials in which elderly patients are underrepresented. Although numbers of this population are increasing, they are largely undertreated in the real world.The study evaluates the impact of older age on care for patients with ACS admitted to the Italian Intensive Cardiac Care Units (ICCUs) network.We analyzed data from the BLITZ-3 Registry in order to assess in-hospital care among unselected elderly patients (≥75 years).From 7-20 April 2008, 6986 consecutive patients with acute cardiac conditions were admitted to ICCUs and prospectively enrolled; 3636 (52%) had ACS and 38% of them were elderly. Elderly patients had a higher risk profile, their median length of stay in ICCU was longer [4 days, interquartile range (IQR): 3-6 vs. 3 days, IQR: 2-5; P 0.0001] and guideline-recommended care was applied less often. At multivariable analysis, elderly patients were less likely to receive reperfusion [odds ratio (OR) = 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.42-0.67] for ST-elevation, or early coronary angiography (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.37-0.56) for non-ST elevation ACS. Besides, unadjusted in-ICCU total mortality was higher for elderly patients with ST-elevation (11.8% elderly vs. 1.8% younger patients; P 0.0001) or non-ST-elevation (3.9% elderly vs. 0.6% younger patients; P 0.0001) ACS.In a nationwide survey, age impacts on care. The elderly with ACS have a higher risk profile but receive less guideline-recommended care than younger patients. Thus, further improvements in care of this population should be pursued.