Benefits and risks of revascularization in senile coronary artery disease patients: is there any optimal choice?

There has been an increase in the population of elderly patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) in recent years. Elderly and, especially, senile patients typically have comorbid conditions, multivessel coronary artery disease and coronary calcification, which make treatment more challenging. The available data from evidence-based medicine is not enough to determine the best treatment strategies for elderly patients, because large randomized clinical trials usually do not include elderly individuals with severe comorbidities. In the presented case, an 80-year-old patient with severe calcification and multivessel coronary artery disease experienced recurrent dissection of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and stent thrombosis of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) during the second phase of percutaneous coronary intervention, which required the implantation of 8 stents and administration of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, leading to the clinical manifestation of gastrointestinal bleeding. An important feature of the presented case was the necessity to implant a large number of stents, which is a risk factor for restenosis. Various issues are discussed in this case, including the choice of optimal management strategy for an 80-year-old patient with multivessel coronary artery disease. Physicians had to make difficult decisions to achieve a balance between potential benefit and risk. In order to improve the management of elderly patients, further research is needed, as well as the accumulation and discussion of clinical data.