Atypical Presentation of Ischemic Heart Disease in Egyptian Elderly

Abstract

orldwide, ischemic heart disease is an important medical issue, especially in the elderly. Its prevalence increases significantly in the sixth decade of life, becoming the leading cause of death in older people. In the elderly, the classic clinical picture of the disease is frequently absent and they often present with atypical symptoms. Atypical presentation of the disease means that the patient presented with unusual or no signs and symptoms. In general, the incidence of typical precordial chest pain denoting myocardial ischemia is less common in the elderly. Persons, instead of presenting with typical retrosternal chest pain, often present with atypical symptoms such as dyspnea, diaphoresis, atypical chest pain, palpitation, epigastric pain, syncope, and/or fall. The absence of chest pain can lead to misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, which worsens outcomes. The current study was conducted to measure the frequency of atypical presentation of IHD, their forms, and the frequency of IHD in an elderly patient ≥ 60 years attending Geriatric outpatient clinic in Geriatric hospital in Ain Shams University. The study was a Cross-sectional study and conducted on 280 elderly patients that attend Geriatric outpatient clinic.