The aging heart and post-infarction left ventricular remodeling

Aging is a risk factor for heart failure, which is a leading cause of death world-wide. Elderly patients are more likely than young patients to experience a myocardial infarction (MI) and are more likely to develop heart failure following MI. The poor clinical outcome of aging in cardiovascular disease is recapitulated on the cellular level. Increase in stress exposure and shifts in signaling pathways with age change the biology of cardiomyocytes. The progressive accumulation of metabolic waste and damaged organelles in cardiomyocytes blocks the intracellular recycling process of autophagy and increases the cell's propensity toward apoptosis. Additionally, the decreased cardiomyocyte renewal capacity in the elderly, due to reduction in cellular division and impaired stem cell function, leads to further cardiac dysfunction and maladaptive responses to disease or stress. We review the cellular and molecular aspects of post-infarction remodeling in the aged heart, and relate them to the clinical problem of post-infarction remodeling in elderly patients.