Cardiac rehabilitation: frailty and coronary syndromes
Frailty and CVD in the elderly share pathophysiological mechanisms and associated conditions, such as malnutrition, sarcopenia, anaemia, polypharmacy and both increased bleeding/thrombotic risk.
In geriatric populations, acute coronary syndromes are associated with an increased frailty degree. Frail elderly patients are increasingly referred to cardiac rehabilitation programs after acute coronary syndromes.
Tools for detecting frailty and guidelines for management of frail elderly patients post-ACS are still debated. This review by F. Giallauria et al. (“Federico II” University of Naples, Italy) underlines the need of an early identification of frail patients in elderly with acute coronary syndromes
Take-home message: It is necessary to implement personalised plans of care and secondary prevention in the cardiac rehabilitation setting.