Gender-related differences in outcome after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated by primary angioplasty and glycoprotein IIb–IIIa inhibitors: insights from the EGYPT cooperation

Several studies have found that among patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated by thrombolysis, female sex is associated with a worse outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate sex-related differences in clinical and angiographic findings in patients with STEMI treated with primary angioplasty and Gp IIb–IIIa inhibitors. Our population is represented by 1662 patients undergoing primary angioplasty included in the EGYPT database. Myocardial perfusion was evaluated by myocardial blush grade and ST-segment resolution. Follow-up data were collected between 30 days and 1 year after primary angioplasty. Among 1662 patients, 379 were women (22.8%). Female sex was associated with more advanced age, higher prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, more advanced Killip class, longer ischemia time, less often smokers, with higher prevalence of preprocedural recenalization. No difference was observed in terms of postprocedural TIMI flow, myocardial perfusion and distal embolization. Similar findings were observed in terms of enzymatic infarct size and preprocedural ejection fraction. Female gender was associated with higher mortality (6.4% vs. 3.6%, HR = 1.83 [1.12–3.0], P = 0.015). However, the difference disappeared after correction for baseline confounding factors (HR = 1.01 [0.56–1.83], P = 0.98). This study shows that in patients with STEMI treated by primary angioplasty, female gender is associated with higher mortality rate in comparison with men, and this is mainly due to their higher clinical and angiographic risk profiles. In fact, female sex did not emerge as an independent predictor of mortality.