Women were noninferior to men in cardiovascular outcomes among patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention from Taiwan acute coronary syndrome full-spectrum registry

This study was conducted to compare the survival rate and the influencing factors between women and men following ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A national-wide Acute Coronary Syndrome Full Spectrum Registry conducted by the Taiwan Society of Cardiology was used for data collection between October 2008 and January 2010. Details of 1621 patients with STEMI treated with primary PCI, including 1350 (83%) men and 271 (17%) women, were collected. Composite outcomes included all-cause death, myocardial reinfarction, and an ischemic stroke. Demographic data, comorbidities, clinical presentations, details of treatment received, and outcomes were recorded at 3-month intervals for 1 year. No significant difference was observed between men and women in the composite endpoints after STEMI during their hospital stay (5.5% vs 2.5%, P = .07). However, women showed significantly higher in-hospital and 1-year mortality rates than those of men (4.1% vs 1.8%, P = .008; 11.0% vs 4.1%, P = .000, respectively). Compared with men, women presented with higher age (mean age 68.9 vs 58.9 years, P = .001), less body weight (58.7 vs 70.9 kg, P < .001), more number of risk factors, delayed diagnosis, and more number of inadequate medical treatments. After adjusting for age and cardiovascular risk factors, the difference in mortality ceased to exist between men and women. Although female patients with STEMI-treated primary PCI had higher in-hospital and 1-year mortality rates than those of males in Taiwan, there was no gender difference after adjusting for age and cardiovascular risk factors.