Impact of age on procedural and clinical outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention for coronary chronic total occlusion: a retrospective single-center study

Background and purpose: The influence of age on procedural success and clinical outcomes in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) is controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of age on procedural success and clinical outcomes in patients undergoing CTO-PCI. Methods: A total of 1,348 CTO-PCIs performed in 1,283 patients between 2019 and 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were stratified by age. Outcomes included technical success, procedural success, procedural complications, and in-hospital clinical events. Results: Among the 1,283 patients, the mean age was 60.5 ± 11.5 years, and 1,113 (86.7%) were men. Overall technical and procedural success rates were 81.8% and 80.9%, respectively. Age >65 years was associated with a lower procedural success rate (82.7% vs. 77.7%, P = 0.023) and a higher rate of in-hospital adverse events (0.8% vs. 1.4%, P = 0.036). However, the technical success rate and procedural complications were comparable. Conclusions: Age was not associated with technical success in CTO-PCI. However, older age was associated with lower procedural success, potentially because of the higher in-hospital adverse event rates following the procedure.