Gender impact on in-hospital outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention

BackgroundPercutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a widely performed technique for coronary revascularization. Men and women seem to have different in-hospital outcomes, although results remain unclear. We assessed the gender impact on in-hospital outcomes in men and women undergoing PCI.MethodsIn a single center, from 1998 to 2002, a total of 413 patients who underwent PCI were included in this analysis. From a dedicated database, the presence of risk factors, angiographic characteristics, left ventricular function and in-hospital outcomes were recorded and compared between men (n = 244) and women (n = 169). For comparison, unpaired t test and chi-square were used for continuous and dichotomous variables respectively. An alpha < 0.05 was considered significant.ResultsWomen were older (65.3 ± 10.39 × 60 ± 10.68 years, p = 0.001), presented better ejection fraction (67.01 ± 12.28% × 64.26 ± 14.31%, p = 0.028) and higher prevalence of stable angina (63.90% × 45.90%, p < 0.001) than men. There were no differences related to family history for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes or hyperlipidemia; but there was an observed reduction in tobacco use (17.71% × 32.31%, p < 0.001) by women. Similar rates of in-hospital successful procedures (94.3% × 94.90%, p = 0.93) and death (0.41% × 1.18%, p = 0.40) were observed in men and women, respectively. Neither vascular complications nor stroke occurred. There was a higher incidence of urgent surgical myocardial revascularization (1.77% × 0%, p = 0.036) and a trend in the combined outcome of death/surgical myocardial revascularization (2.69% × 0.41%, p = 0.06) in the women's group.ConclusionWomen present a higher incidence of urgent surgical myocardial revascularization following percutaneous coronary intervention when compared to men.