The Effect of Sex and Anthropometry on Clinical Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Complex Coronary Lesions

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of sex and anthropometry on clinical outcomes in patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From three randomized trials (REal Safety and Efficacy of 3-month dual antiplatelet Therapy following Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent implantation, Impact of intraVascular UltraSound guidance on outcomes of Xience Prime stents in Long lesions, Chronic Total Occlusion InterVention with drUg-eluting Stents), we compared 333 pairs of men and women matched by propensity scores, all of whom underwent intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided PCI for complex lesions. RESULTS: For 12 months, the incidence of adverse cardiac events, defined as the composite of cardiac death, target lesion–related myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization, was not different between women and men (2.4% vs. 2.4%, p=0.939). Using multivariable Cox's regression analysis, post-intervention minimum lumen area [MLA; hazard ratio (HR)=0.620, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.423–0.909, p=0.014] by IVUS was a predictor of adverse cardiac events. Height on anthropometry and lesions with chronic total occlusion were significantly related to post-intervention MLA. However, female sex was not independently associated with post-intervention MLA. In an age and sex-adjusted model, patients in the low tertile of height exhibited a greater risk for adverse cardiac events than those in the high tertile of height (HR=6.391, 95% CI=1.160–35.206, p=0.033). CONCLUSION: Sex does not affect clinical outcomes after PCI for complex lesions. PCI outcomes, however, may be adversely affected by height.