Hyperglycemia and Physical Impairment in Frail Hypertensive Older Adults.

Background: Frailty is a multidimensional condition typical of elders. Frail older adults have a high risk of functional decline, hospitalization, and mortality. Hypertension is one of the most common comorbidities in elders. Hyperglycemia (HG) is frequently observed in frail older adults, and represents an independent predictor of worst outcomes, with or without diabetes mellitus (DM). We aimed at investigating the impact of HG on physical impairment in frailty. Methods: We studied consecutive older adults with frailty and hypertension at the ASL (local health unit of the Italian Ministry of Health) of Avellino, Italy, from March 2021 to September 2021. Exclusion criteria were: age <65 years, no frailty, no hypertension, left ventricular ejection fraction <25%, previous myocardial infarction, previous primary percutaneous coronary intervention and/or coronary artery bypass grafting. Blood glucose, Hb1Ac, and creatinine were measured in all patients. Physical frailty was assessed applying the Fried Criteria; we performed a 5-meter gait speed (5mGS) test in all patients. Results: 149 frail hypertensive older adults were enrolled in the study, of which 82 had normoglycemia (NG), and 67 had HG. We observed a significantly slower 5mGS in the HG group compared to the NG group (0.52 ± 0.1 vs. 0.69 ± 0.06; p<0.001). Moreover, we found a strong and significant correlation between 5mGS and glycemia (r: 0.833; p<0.001). A multivariable linear regression analysis using 5mGS as a dependent variable revealed a significant independent association with glycemia (p<0.001) after adjusting for likely confounders. Conclusions: HG drives physical impairment in frail hypertensive older adults independently of DM.

ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients with Hyperglycemia: Effects of Intravenous Adenosine.

BACKGROUND: Admission hyperglycemia is common in subjects with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Reperfusion therapy with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) represents the leading therapeutic choice, in particular in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Despite this, mortality, re-hospitalizations and complications remain a relevant problem. Adenosine, a purine nucleoside, may reduce no-reflow. Therefore, whe studied the effects of intravenous infusion of adenosine in addition to primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) in hyperglycemic patients with STEMI. METHODS: We evaluated 836 patients with STEMI and admission hyperglycemia (glycemia >140 mg/dL). At the end, 399 patients were entered into the database. Patients were grouped on the basis of whether they received adenosine or not. RESULTS: A total of 199 patients received intravenous adenosine infusion and PPCI and 200 patients did not. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated significant differences in all death, cardiac death, re-hospitalization for heart failure and for acute coronary syndrome in the adenosine treated group. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of intravenous infusion of adenosine and PPCI on clinical outcomes are significant but we need future larger studies with larger follow-up and statistical analysis to confirm our results.

Impact of thrombus aspiration in frail STEMI patients.

BACKGROUND: Despite primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is generally considered the best therapy in older frail adults with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the incidence of re-hospitalization for cardiovascular diseases remains significant in these patients. AIMS: We hypothesized that thrombus aspiration (TA) before PPCI could be a useful treatment for reducing mortality and rehospitalizations in frail patients undergoing PPCI for STEMI. METHODS: We conducted a study comparing PPCI alone vs TA + PPCI in frail STEMI patients. We examined a cohort of consecutive frail patients aged ≥ 65 years with first STEMI treated with PPCI between February 2008 and July 2015 at the Department of Cardiology of the "Cardarelli" Hospital in Naples, Italy. RESULTS: The study was completed by 389 patients (PPCI: 195, TA + PPCI: 194). At 1-month follow-up, the rate of death from any cause was 7.0% in patients treated with PPCI alone vs 3.0% in patients treated with TA + PPCI (p 0.036), whereas death from cardiovascular causes was 6.0% in the PPCI group vs 3.0% in the TA + PPCI group (p 0.028). Equally important, the rate of re-hospitalization due to heart failure was 7.5% in the PPCI group vs 4.0% in TA + PPCI group (p 0.025) and the rate of re-hospitalization due to acute coronary syndrome was 10.0% in the PPCI group vs 4.5% in the TA + PPCI group (p 0.016). CONCLUSION: These results indicate the importance of TA in the treatment of STEMI in a group of high-risk patients such as elderly with frailty.