Sex-based differences in clinical and angiographic outcomes in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with concomitant use of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors.

BACKGROUND

The widespread use of primary coronary intervention (PCI) has significantly improved the prognosis of men presenting with acute coronary syndromes, but the cardiovascular event rate among women has either levelled off or increased. The purpose of the present prospective study was to compare the clinical outcome of women and men presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary PCI with concomitant usage of GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors.

METHODS

Between January 2006 and December 2007, 297 consecutive patients presenting with STEMI were prospectively included in this single center investigation. Overall, 82 (27.6%) women and 215 (72.4%) men were treated by PCI with additional bare metal stent implantation and a GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor.

RESULTS

Women were significantly older (65 ± 10 vs 60 ± 12 years, p = 0.04), presented with a smaller reference luminal diameter (2.83 ± 0.51 vs 2.94 ± 0.43, p = 0.03) and had a higher prevalence of hypertension (68% vs 53%, p = 0.025) and obesity (30% vs 18%, p = 0.03). The incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE, defined as death, re-myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization and coronary artery bypass graft) during long-term follow-up was similar in women and men (20% vs 26%, p = 0.29). Age, C-reactive protein, platelet count and cardiogenic shock were identified as independent predictors for MACE, whereas gender was not predictive.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, female gender did not emerge as an independent predictor for MACE, but women presenting with STEMI had a higher cardiovascular risk profile; this emphasizes the need for a more extensive therapeutic strategy. Combination therapy with primary PCI and GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors might mitigate gender-related differences in clinical outcomes.