Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Aging Clinical and Experimental Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01471-w ORIGINAL ARTICLE Prevalence, clinical correlates, and burden of undiagnosed aortic stenosis in older patients: a prospective study in a non‑cardiologic acute hospital ward Sabrina Perego 1  · Antonella Zambon 2  · Stefano Nistri 3  · Adriana Bruni 4  · Susanna Motta 5  · Luca Cavalieri D’Oro 6  · Eleonora Rossi 7  · Giorgio Annoni 4,7  · Giuseppe Bellelli 4,7 Received: 7 November 2019 / Accepted: 3 January 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 Abstract Background The epidemiology of aortic stenosis (AS) in older patients admitted to non-cardiologic acute hospital wards and the efect of AS on mid-term survival are incompletely reported. In a cohort of very old patients admitted to an acute geriatric unit (AGU), we aimed to assess: (1) the prevalence of newly and previously diagnosed AS; and (2) the association between AS severity and patients’ 6-month mortality. Methods The patients consecutively admitted in two AGU rooms from February 2016 to February 2018 were assessed with echocardiography and AS severity was defned according to standard criteria. We assessed frailty using a 34-item Frailty Index (34-FI), which was operationalized using health variable information, and the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). Vital status at 6 months was extracted from Regional Register of Birth and Death. Results Two hundred and three patients (mean age 84.5 ± 6.0 SD, female gender 56.1%) were included. Of these, 57 (28.1%) had AS, mild in 9 (4.5%), moderate in 32 (16.1%) and severe in 16 (8.1%). A new diagnosis of AS was obtained in 42 (73.7%) patients, of whom 33 (78.6%) had moderate or severe AS. At 6 months, 61 (28.9%) patients died. In multiple regression models, after adjusting for covariates, frailty, as assessed with both FI and CFS, was independent predictor of 6-month mortality whereas AS was not. Conclusions Among older patients admitted to non-cardiologic acute hospital wards, AS was common and frequently underdiagnosed. The severity of AS was not associated with increased 6-month mortality, whereas frailty was the most important predictor. Keywords Aortic stenosis · Older · Hospital · Frailty · Mortality Introduction Aortic stenosis (AS) represents a major public health burden in the western countries [1-4]. Since its prevalence is age related, the burden of AS on health systems is expected to increase [5-7]. However, AS is frequently under diagnosed Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01471-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Giuseppe Bellelli giuseppe.bellelli@unimib.it 1 Acute Geriatric Unit, Desio Hospital, Desio, MB, Italy 2 Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, Unit of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy 3 Cardiology Service, CMSR Veneto Medica, Vicenza, Altavilla Vicentina, Vicenza, Italy 4 Acute Geriatric Unit, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy 5 Emergency Department, Vimercate Hospital, Vimercate, Italy 6 Epidemiology Unit ATS Della Brianza, Local Health Authority, Monza, Italy 7 School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy