Impact of sex on long-term cardiovascular outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for acute coronary syndromes

Impact of Sex Differences on Clinical Outcomes in Patients Following Primary Revascularization for Acute Myocardial Infarction - Insights From the Japanese Nationwide Registry

BACKGROUND

Women with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) often present a worse risk profile and experience a higher rate of in-hospital mortality than men. However, sex differences in post-discharge prognoses remain inadequately investigated. We examined the impact of sex on 1-year post-discharge outcomes in patients with AMI undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We extracted patient-level data for the period January 2017-December 2018 from the J-PCI OUTCOME Registry, endorsed by the Japanese Association of Cardiovascular Intervention and Therapeutics. One-year all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events were compared between men and women. In all, 29,856 AMI patients were studied, with 6,996 (23.4%) being women. Women were significantly older and had a higher prevalence of comorbidities than men. Crude all-cause mortality was significantly higher among women than men (7.5% vs. 5.4% [P<0.001] for ST-elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI]; 7.0% vs. 5.2% [P=0.006] for non-STEMI). These sex-related differences in post-discharge outcomes were attenuated after stratification by age. Multivariate analysis demonstrated an increase in all-cause mortality in both sexes with increasing age and advanced-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD).

CONCLUSIONS

Within this nationwide cohort, women had worse clinical outcomes following AMI than men. However, these sex-related differences in outcomes diminished after adjusting for age. In addition, CKD was significantly associated with all-cause mortality in both sexes.

Outcomes by sex in the International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches (ISCHEMIA) trial

BACKGROUND

In the International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches (ISCHEMIA) trial, among participants with stable coronary artery disease, the risk of cardiac events was similar between an invasive (INV) strategy of angiography and coronary revascularisation and a conservative (CON) strategy of initial medical therapy alone. Outcomes according to participant sex were not reported.

AIMS

We aimed to analyse the outcomes of ISCHEMIA by participant sex.

METHODS

We evaluated 1) the association between participant sex and the likelihood of undergoing revascularisation for participants randomised to the INV arm; 2) the risk of the ISCHEMIA primary composite outcome (cardiovascular death, any myocardial infarction [MI] or rehospitalisation for unstable angina, heart failure or resuscitated cardiac arrest) by participant sex; and 3) the contribution of the individual primary outcome components to the composite outcome by participant sex.

RESULTS

Of 5,179 randomised participants, 1,168 (22.6%) were women. Female sex was independently associated with a lower likelihood of revascularisation when assigned to the INV arm (adjusted odds ratio 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.57-0.99; p=0.04). The INV versus CON effect on the primary composite outcome was similar between sexes (women: hazard ratio [HR] 0.96, 95% CI: 0.70-1.33; men: HR 0.90, 95% CI: 0.76-1.07; pinteraction=0.71). The contribution of the individual components to the composite outcome was similar between sexes except for procedural MI, which was significantly lower in women (9/151 [5.9%]) than men (67/519 [12.9%]; p=0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

In ISCHEMIA, women assigned to the INV arm were less likely to undergo revascularisation than men. The effect of an INV versus CON strategy was consistent by sex, but women had a significantly lower contribution of procedural MI to the primary outcome.

Interactions of ST-elevation myocardial infarction, age, and sex and the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events among Chinese adults: a secondary analysis of a single-centre prospective cohort

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to evaluate the interactions of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), ageing and sex with respect to the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) among Chinese adults.

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of a single-centre prospective cohort.

SETTING

Patients who were admitted to cardiology clinics of the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University due to acute myocardial infarction (MI) from June 2017 to November 2019 were eligible for inclusion in the study. This research only examined in-hospital cases.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients aged <18 years or confirmed dead within 24 hours from admission were excluded. A total of 843 adults were included in the analysis.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

MACE was defined as any occurrence of cardiovascular mortality, MI recurrence, cardiogenic shock or heart failure. The relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI), attributable proportion (AP) and the synergy index were computed to quantify the interactions. Men without STEMI and adults without STEMI aged <60 years were the reference groups when examining the risk of MACE.

RESULTS

The female participants with STEMI showed a statistically higher risk of MACE compared with the male participants without STEMI (relative risk (RR): 2.713, CI: 1.350 to 5.426, p=0.005). A 3.327 times higher risk of MACE was detected in the older adults with STEMI (aged ≥60 years) compared with the adults without STEMI aged <60 years (RR: 3.327, CI: 1.414 to 8.955, p=0.01). Older female patients also had an increased risk of MACE (RR: 3.033, CI: 1.432 to 6.777, p=0.005). A positive additive interaction was detected between STEMI and age (RERI: 1.917, CI: 0.196 to 3.637; AP: 0.576, CI: 0.174 to 0.979). STEMI and sex also indicated an additive interaction (AP: 0.459, CI: 0.018 to 0.899).

CONCLUSION

In this Chinese population with MI, the risk of MACE was increased by about 2.7 times in women with STEMI compared with men without STEMI. MACE incidence increased by about 3.3 times in older patients with STEMI compared with younger patients without STEMI. STEMI and age, and STEMI and sex, may have a positive additive interaction.

Gender-related differences in clinical outcomes after either single or double left main bifurcation stenting

We sought to examine the impact of gender differences in clinical outcomes at 3 years also comparing the role of double versus single stenting approach for the treatment of coronary unprotected LM bifurcation lesions. We retrospectively analyzed both the procedural and medical data of patients referred to our hub center for complex LM bifurcation disease, treated using Crossover provisional stenting, T or T-and-Protrusion (TAP), Culotte, and Nano-inverted-T (NIT) techniques between January 1st, 2008 and May 1st 2018. The main outcome of the study was to evaluate the association between gender and target lesion failure (TLF) based on the different stenting technique used. Five hundred and sixty-seven patients (251 females, mean age 70.0 ± 10 years, mean Syntax score 31.6 ± 6.3) were evaluated. Crossover, T or TAP, culotte and NIT techniques were performed in 171 (30.1%), 61 (10.7%), 98 (17.2%) and 237 (41.8%) patients, respectively with no differences in baseline and peri-procedural items among gender. At a mean follow-up of 37.1 ± 10.8 months (range 22.1-39.3 moths), the overall TLF rate, cardiovascular mortality and stent thrombosis were 12.1%, 3.1% and 1.0%, respectively. Female gender was associated with an increased rate of major bleeding when treated with double stent strategy (p = 0.02). No gender difference in TLF was noted among gender, independently from the stenting approach used. Among patients with ULM bifurcation disease undergoing PCI, TLF rates were not different between genders at 3-year follow-up either using a single or double stent technique.