Age-dependent impairment of coronary collateral development in humans

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether age influences collateral development in patients with coronary artery disease. The extent of collat eral development to the area perfused by the infarct-related artery was gra ded, depending on the degree of opacification of the occluded infarct-relat ed artery. We evaluated the extent of collateral development using coronary cineangiography in 102 patients with an acutely occluded infarct-related c oronary artery within 12h after the onset of the first acute myocardial inf arction, and who had a history of long-standing effort angina. Well-develop ed collateral circulation was observed in 54 (53 %) of the patients. The pa tients were divided into two groups based on their age. The prevalence of w ell-developed collateral circulation in the younger group (less than or equ al to 64 years, n = 48) was 69% (33 of 48), being significantly (P = 0.003) higher than 39% (21 of 54) in the older group (greater than or equal to 65 years, n = 54). We conclude that in the presence of stimuli for collateral development i.e., long-standing effort angina accompanied by severe corona ry stenosis, the age of patients is a key determinant of collateral develop ment.