Preoperative nuclear stress testing in the very old patient population

Table 1 Patient demographics

Characteristic	Number of patients (%)
Gender
Male	31 (44.9)
Female	38 (55.1)
Mean age	88 yr
Risk factors
Hypertension	57 (82.6)
Diabetes mellitus	13 (18.8)
Hyperlipidemia	23 (33.3)
Obesity	1 (1.4)
Smoking	7 (10.1)
Medications
ASA	13 (18.8)
Plavix	4 (5.8)
Beta blocker	34 (49.3)
Statin	20 (29.0)
ACE-I/ARB	27 (39.1)
Digoxin	8 (11.6)
Nitrates	9 (13.0)
CC blocker	17 (24.6)
Diuretics	23 (33.3)
Procedures
Orthopedic	26 (37.7)
Vascular	15 (21.7)
Abdominal	15 (21.7)
Other	13 (18.8)

ASA: Aspirin; ACE-I/ARB: Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker; CC blocker: Calcium channel blocker.

Table 2 Major adverse cardiac events

Adverse event	Number of subjects (%)
Atrial fibrillation	3 (0.04%)
Congestive heart failure	6 (0.09%)
Myocardial infarction	1 (0.01%)
Supraventricular tachycardia	1 (0.01%)
Angina	2 (0.03%)
Bradycardia	1 (0.01%)
Cardiogenic shock	1 (0.01%)
Trigeminy	1 (0.01%)
Death	3 (0.04%)
Total	16 (0.23%)

Table 3 Major adverse cardiac events and risk factors

Major adverse cardiac event		Yes, n (%)	No, n (%)	P value
Hypertension	Yes	13 (23)	44 (77)
	No	2 (17)	10 (83)	NS
Diabetes	Yes	3 (23)	10 (77)
	No	12 (21)	44 (79)	NS
Hypercholesterolemia	Yes	2 (9)	21 (91)
	No	13 (28)	33 (72)	NS
Smoking	Yes	2 (29)	5 (79)
	No	13 (21)	49 (79)	NS
Obesity	Yes	1 (100)	0 (0)
	No	14 (21)	54 (79)	NS

NS: Non-significant.

Table 4 Major adverse cardiac events and nuclear stress test variables

		Yes, n (%)	No, n (%)	P value
Nuclear stress test result	Abnormal	13(32)	28 (68)
	Normal	2 (7)	26 (93)	< 0.02
Ejection fraction	< 40%	6 (46)	7 (54)
	≥ 40%	9 (17)	45 (83)	0.065
Summed stress score	≥ 9	11 (37)	19 (63)
	≤ 8	4 (11)	34 (89)	< 0.02
Summed difference score	> 0	10 (26)	28 (74)
	≤ 0	5 (17)	24 (83)	0.387