12-LEAD ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS AND PHARMACOTHERAPY IN CENTENARIANS

The prevalence of electrocardiographic anomalies has been assessed in a selected group of centenarians recruited in Western Sicily (49 subje cts, 15 males and 34 females) with an average age of 101.5 years (rang e 100-109); the findings were analyzed in correlation with the state o f health of the subjects, the drugs used and the presence of specific heart diseases and immobility. These subjects have rare signs of heart diseases, they do not show any electrolytic disorder, in spite of usi ng many drugs sometimes in an inconsistent way. Particularly interesti ng is to note the moderate prevalence of sinus rhythm and the extremel y low number of subjects with sinus respiratory arrhythmia as compared to the known literary data for the over-sixties. There occur, however , frequent, but almost asymptomatic troubles of the intraventricular c onduction. especially left anterior hemiblock and ectopic beats. Atria l fibrillation and bradyarrhythmias are rare, while left axis deviatio n with scarce signs of left ventricular hypertrophy and alterations of the repolarization phase are frequent. The most used drugs are digita lis and vasodilators, especially angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) i nhibitors. The observed data prove that heart functions of the centena rians are in good conditions: the alterations of them are less serious than those of the somewhat younger old age classes, where the electro cardiographic anomalies are of higher extent and severity.