Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Older Patients Admitted to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

Tarabanis, C; Guo, J; Barsness, GW; Farahmandsadr, M; Fordyce, CB; Goldfarb, M; Katz, JN; Kontos, MC; Miller, PE; Newby, LK; van Diepen, S; Morrow, DA; Alviar, CL

doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2026.102830

Acute cardiac care & resuscitation

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Older Patients Admitted to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

JACC AdvPublished June 2026multicenter, international registry of cardiac intensive care units (CICUs)

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Authors' conclusion

Patients ≥85 years in contemporary CICUs experience survival comparable to those aged 75-<85 years, except in the setting of cardiac arrest. These findings support consideration of factors beyond chronological age in CICU triage and treatment decisions.

Study context

Population: Consecutive medical CICU admissions, 2017–2024admissions from 50 sites
Participants: 35,265 admissions

Exposure: Older patients admitted to the CICU compared with younger adults
Outcome: Age distribution of admissions

Methodological detailsannual ≥2-month snapshots of consecutive medical CICU admissions

Annual ≥2-month snapshots of consecutive medical CICU admissions

Main finding

As reported in the abstract

<6544%

65-<7527%

75-<8521%

≥859%

Observational data: associations, not effects.

Further findings

Outcome	← Lower odds vs <65 ←→ Higher odds vs <65 →	Adjusted OR (CI)
In-hospital mortality65-<75vs <65	0.20.5125	1.53 (1.40–1.67)
In-hospital mortality75-<85vs <65	0.20.5125	1.83 (1.67–2.01)
In-hospital mortality≥85vs <65	0.20.5125	1.95 (1.72–2.22)
In-hospital mortality among cardiac arrest patients (subgroup)≥85vs <65	0.20.5125	3.09 (2.24–4.26)
	0.20.5125Adjusted odds ratio (log scale)

Outcome	≥85
Use of mechanical circulatory support	5.5%

Use of mechanical circulatory support: lowest use; consisted exclusively of intra-aortic balloon pumps
In-hospital mortality: adjusted for sex, illness severity (SOFA score), lactate, and kidney function
In-hospital mortality among cardiac arrest patients (subgroup): among cardiac arrest patients; increase in mortality with age was steeper

Most common admission diagnosis

Acute coronary syndrome was the most common admission diagnosis among all age groups

Original publication

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Older Patients Admitted to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. JACC Adv. Published June 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2026.102830

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