abstract
- Cardiovascular disease is a major health issue for the elderly patient. Many diagnostic, therapeutic and ethical issues are specific for the the older adult with heart disease. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society 2002 Consensus Conference provides recommendations for the most frequently encountered cardiac problems in the elderly patient. A common theme of the recommendations is the need to apply the best evidence based medicine together with an assessment of frailty, comorbidity and quality of life. A major goal of the conference was to identify treatments that are not optimally used in the older patient.