Changing patterns of patient characteristics in the cath lab from 1998 to 2006: a single-centre retrospective analysis.
BACKGROUND
There are few data on the change in the profile of cath lab patients over long time intervals.


METHODS
We retrospectively analysed our cath lab records, patient charts, in terms of demographic variables, clinical and laboratory characteristics in a thousand patients (499 patients in 1998 January-March, 501 patients in 2006 January-March).


RESULTS
Mean age was significantly higher in the 2006 cohort (57.5 +/- 11 vs. 62.2 +/- 10.8, P < 0.001). Gender was similar in both cohorts (men 68.5% vs. women 69.9%, P = 0.65). Both hypertension and diabetes mellitus were more prevalent in the 2006 cohort (613% vs. 49.3 and 30.3 vs. 17.6 respectively, P < 0.001 for both). Smoking rates (past or active) did not differ between the cohorts. Rates of normal or near normal coronary angiograms were somewhat elevated in both cohorts (36.7% in 1998 and 39.1% in 2006). Rates of multivessel disease (2-3 vessel disease) tended to increase and rates of single-vessel disease tended to decrease from the 1998 cohort to the 2006 cohort (27.7% to 34.4% and 35.7% to 26.7%, P = 0.006). The number of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) performed increased with a borderline statistical significance in the 2006 cohort (32% vs. 38.5%, P = 0.053).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data indicates that today interventional cardiologists face an older and more severely diseased cath lab patient population compared with a decade earlier. In comparison with 1998, more PCIs were performed.
Sayin
Tamer
T
Ankara University, Department of Cardiology, Ankara, Turkey. tamsay@hotmail.com
Altin
Timuçin
T
Ozcan
Ozgür
O
Oztürk
Selçuk
S
Kiliçkap
Mustafa
M
Ozdemir
Aydan
A
Candemir
Başar
B
Akyürek
Omer
O
Erol
Cetin
C