Abstract: The objectives of the study were to examine whether angina 48 h before acute myocardial infarction provided protection in elderly patients and to retrospectively verify whether preinfarction angina within₄₈ h of the first myocardial infarction exerted a beneficial effet on in hospital outcomes in adults(≤45 years old, n=104)and elderly(≥65 years old and ≤75 years old, n=134)patients. In hospital congestive heart failure (8 vs 1, 14.8 % vs 2.0%, P=0.048), cardiogenic shock(8 vs 1, 14.8 % vs 2.0%, P =0.048) and left ventricular dysfunction (11 vs 2, 20.4% vs 4.0%, P=0.012)were more frequent in adult patients without than in those with previous angina. In contrast, the presence or absence of preinfarction angina did not seem to influence in hospital outcomes in elderly patients. The protective effect from preinfarction angina seemed to be lower in elderly patients than in adults. This study suggests that the absence of preconditioning probably results in the poor in hospital outcomes in elderly patients.

Key words: ischemic preconditioning, myocardial infarction, aged