Transradial Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Myocardial Infarction Reduces CCU Stay in Patients 80 or Older

Transradial percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), which is less invasive than transfemoral PCI, may facilitate early rehabilitation of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The aim of our study was to investigate whether transradial PCI is associated with a shorter coronary care unit (CCU) stay in very elderly AMI patients (>= 80 years old). We enrolled 116 AMI patients aged >= 80 years. There were 39 patients in the transradial group and 77 patients in the non-transradial group. The length of CCU stay, the length of hospital stay, in-hospital mortality, the day of the monitored sitting and standing test, and the occurrence of delirium were compared between the two groups. The duration of CCU stay in the transradial and non-transradial groups was 3.6 +/- 1.5 days and 5.0 +/- 3.2 days, respectively (P = 0.001). The duration of hospital stay in the transradial and non-transradial groups was 13.3 +/- 7.4 clays and 19.2 +/- 11.1 days, respectively (P = 0.001). In-hospital mortality was not different between the two groups (7.7% versus 2.6%, P = 0.20). The day of the monitored standing test in the transradial and non-transradial groups was 3.2 +/- 0.7 and 4.6 +/- 2.3, respectively (P < 0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified a transradial approach as an independent predictor of short (<= 3 days) CCU stay (OR: 3.01, 95%CI: 1.16-7.83, P = 0.02). In conclusion, transradial PCI was associated with a shorter CCU stay in AMI patients >= 80 years old. Furthermore, transradial PCI facilitated early rehabilitation in this high risk population. (Int Heart J 2012; 53: 79-84)