Study of Cardiovascular Functions in Frail Asymptomatic Elderly

Abstract

here is a general agreement that the core feature of frailty is increased vulnerability due to impairments in multiple, inter-related systems resulting in homeostatic reserve disturbance. There exists a relation between frailty and cardiovascular diseases (CVD); frailty may lead to CVD, just as CVD may lead to frailty. The relation may also be collinear, because these entities share common biologic pathways. This thesis was conducted to assess the echocardiographic changes, electrocardiographic changes, coronary risk factors, and high sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP) among frail elderly with no history of heart diseases. In this cross sectional study 104 elderly participants were recruited from the inpatients wards and outpatients clinics in Ain Shams University Hospital. All diagnosed as frail by modified Fried criteria. Each participant was subjected to comprehensive geriatric assessment (which included; history taking, functional assessment by activity of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activity of daily living (IADL), cognitive assessment by Mini-mental status examination and depression screening by Geriatric depression scale 15 items), cardiovascular assessment by resting 12-leads electrocardiogram and transthoracic echocardiography, laborato