Use of vitamin K antagonist therapy in geriatrics: a French national survey from the French Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SFGG).

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the quality and determinants of vitamin K antagonists (VKA) control among very elderly patients in geriatric settings.

Methods: A national cross-sectional survey was conducted among patients aged ≥80 years who were hospitalized in rehabilitation care or institutionalized in a nursing home and who were treated by VKA. Time in therapeutic range (TTR) was computed according to Rosendaal's method.

[Expert consensus of the French society of geriatrics and gerontology and the French society of cardiology on the management of atrial fibrillation in elderly people].

The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) increase with ageing. In France AF affects between 400,000 to 660,000 people aged 75 years or more. In the elderly, AF is a major risk factor of stroke and a predictive factor for mortality.

Expert consensus of the French Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology and the French Society of Cardiology on the management of atrial fibrillation in elderly people.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common and serious condition in the elderly. AF affects between 600,000 and one million patients in France, two-thirds of whom are aged above 75 years. AF is a predictive factor for mortality in the elderly and a major risk factor for stroke.

Consensus of the French Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics and the French Society of Cardiology for the management of coronary artery disease in older adults.

Coronary heart disease is a common and serious condition in patients aged over 80 years. The presenting clinical symptoms are all the more atypical and the prognosis poorer when it occurs in patients with multiple comorbid diseases. The presence of comorbidities dictates the need for a standardized geriatric assessment to screen for the existence of underlying frailty.

[Prescribing beta blockers in elderly patients with heart failure].

Beta blockers remain underused in elderly patients with heart failure. Age is not a contraindication to beta blockers. The SENIORS study confirmed that beta blockers are both efficacious and well tolerated in elderly people with heart failure, regardless of their ejection fraction.

Effects of Helicobacter pylori infection on gut appetite peptide (leptin, ghrelin) expression in elderly inpatients.

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between gastritis and leptin and ghrelin in elderly patients. Patients older than 75 years undergoing an endoscopy were included. We reported data on nutritional status and Helicobacter pylori infection diagnosis (serology, 13C-urea breath test, culture, histology, and polymerase chain reaction on gastric biopsies).

[Dural arteriovenous fistula, a rare cause of congestive heart failure in elderly patients].

Introduction: Arteriovenous fistula is a curable cause of high output congestive heart failure.

Case: An 89-year-old woman was hospitalized for acute heart failure. The presence of a continuous murmur in the right carotid artery suggested an arteriovenous fistula.

Evaluation of long-term efficacy and acceptability of indapamide SR in elderly hypertensive patients.

Objective: To assess the long-term antihypertensive efficacy and acceptability of indapamide SR 1.5 mg in elderly hypertensive patients (> or = 65 years).

Study Design: Open, 12-month, follow-up study of 444 patients, treated with indapamide SR, who were responders and/or achieved target BP levels following a 3-month, randomised, controlled, double-blind short-term comparison of indapamide SR versus hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg and amlodipine 5 mg.

Delirium symptoms and low dietary intake in older inpatients are independent predictors of institutionalization: a 1-year prospective population-based study.

Objective: To assess the effects of delirium on the institutionalization rate, taking into account geriatric syndromes and nutritional status.

Methods: This population-based study took place in an acute care unit and included participants older than 75 years, arriving from home and later discharged. Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) symptoms were recorded by the nurses within 24 hours after admission and every 3 days.

Randomized, comparative, double-blind study of amlodipine vs. nicardipine as a treatment of isolated systolic hypertension in the elderly.

A 90-day, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study was conducted to compare the efficacy of amlodipine (once a day) with nicardipine (two to three times a day), in the treatment of isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) in the elderly. Patients (n = 133) aged > or = 60 years, with ISH were randomized to receive either amlodipine 5 mg/day, or nicardipine 60 mg/day (titrated if necessary to 10 mg/day and 100 mg/day, respectively) for 90 days. Efficacy was assessed by measuring office blood pressure (BP), and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).

Detecting Helicobacter pylori infection in hospitalized frail older patients: the challenge.

Objectives: Helicobacter pylori infection has not been well studied in older people, especially in hospitalized, frail patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of the infection in this population using five H. pylori diagnostic tests.