Enrollment and maintenance of elderly patients in cardiovascular clinical trials.

This review addresses the paucity of data available to guide clinical cardiovascular management at advanced elderly age, a likely contributor to the lesser use of beneficial therapies in this population. Cardiovascular disease is the largest health burden of aged persons; this mandates inclusion of elderly persons in clinical research studies of preventive interventions, diagnostic procedures, pharmacotherapy, and high-technology interventional procedures to ascertain their applicability to patients of advanced age. Relevant clinical outcomes include improvement in functional independence and quality of life, decrease in costly hospitalizations, and prolongation of meaningful life.