Impact of gender on infarct size, ST-segment resolution, myocardial blush and clinical outcomes after primary stenting for acute myocardial infarction: Substudy from the EMERALD trial

BackgroundWomen with AMI may have worse outcomes than men. However, it is unclear if this is related to differences in treatment, treatment effect or gender specific factors. We sought to determine whether primary percutaneous intervention (PCI) has a differential impact on infarct size, myocardial perfusion and ST segment resolution in men and women with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).MethodsA total of 501 AMI patients were prospectively enrolled in the EMERALD study and underwent PCI with or without distal protection. Post hoc gender subset analysis was performed.Results501 patients (108 women, 393 men) with ST-segment elevation AMI presenting within 6 h underwent primary (or rescue) PCI with stenting and a distal protection device. Women were older, had more hypertension, less prior AMI, smaller BSA, and smaller vessel size, but had similar rates of diabetes (30% versus 20.2%, p = 0.87), LAD infarct, and time-to-reperfusion compared to men. Women more frequently had complete ST-resolution (> 70%) at 30 days (72.8% versus 59.8%, p = 0.02), and smaller infarct size compared to males (12.2 ± 19.6% versus 18.4 ± 18.5%, p = 0.006). At 6 months, TLR (6.9% versus 5.2%) and MACE (11.4% versus 10.3%) were similar for women and men.ConclusionsDespite worse comorbidities, women with AMI treated with primary PCI with stenting showed similar early and midterm outcomes compared to men.