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The findings in 3,256 consecutive patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction were tabulated to assess the history, treatments and outcome in the elderly; 1,848 patients (56%) were greater than 65 years of age, including 28% who were aged greater than or equal to 75 years. The incidence of prior angina, hypertension and heart failure (only 3% of patients less than 55 years of age had a history of heart failure compared with 24% greater than or equal to 75 years old) was found to increase with age. Twenty-nine percent of patients less than 75 years of age were treated with a systemic thrombolytic drug compared with only 5% of patients older than 75 years. Mortality rates increased strikingly with advanced age (less than 2% in patients less than or equal to 55, 4.6% in those 55 to 64, 12.3% in those 65 to 74 and 17.8% in those greater than or equal to 75 years). Both the incidence of complicating illness and a nondiagnostic electrocardiogram (ECG) increased with age. In a multivariate analysis of outcome in older patients (greater than or equal to 65 years), adverse events were related to both prior history of heart failure (odds ratio 3.9) and increasing age (odds ratio 1.4 per each decade of age). Outcome was not improved by treatment with thrombolytic drugs, but these agents were prescribed to only 12% of patients greater than 65 years of age, thereby reducing the power for detecting such an effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)