The elderly patient with cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality at elderly age. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most prevalent problem, followed by hypertensive cardiovascular disease. In this review, the differences in presentation, assessment, management, and prognosis of the common cardiovascular problems in elderly patients compared with younger counterparts are discussed. Principles of cardiovascular drug therapy and issues of preventive care at elderly age also are addressed. Cardiovascular disease in elderly patients is complicated by its superimposition on the physiologic and structural cardiovascular changes of aging and by its frequent association with multiple other comorbid illnesses. Most diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are characterized by an excess of adverse responses compared with those in patients of younger age. The challenge in caring for the escalating elderly population in the twenty-first century will be to delineate those interventions that favorably affect morbidity and mortality, functional status, and quality of life attributes.
Wenge
N K
NK
Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, 69 Butler Street SE, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA.
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans