Mortality differences between men and women following first myocardial infarction. RESCATE Investigators. Recursos Empleados en el Síndrome Coronario Agudo y Tiempo de Espera.
BACKGROUND
Mortality after acute myocardial infarction is worse in women than in men, even after adjustment for comorbidity and age dissimilarities between sexes.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the influence of sex on survival after acute myocardial infarction.


METHODS
Inception cohort obtained in a prospective registry of patients with acute myocardial infarction from 1992 through 1994.


METHODS
Four teaching hospitals in northeastern Spain.


METHODS
All consecutive patients aged 80 years or younger with first acute myocardial infarction. A total of 331 women and 1129 men were included.


METHODS
Survival at 28 days and mortality or readmission at 6 months.


RESULTS
Women were older (mean, 68.6 vs 60.1 years), presented more often with diabetes (52.9% vs 23.3%), hypertension (63.9% vs 42.3%), or previous angina (44.6% vs 37.4%), and developed more severe myocardial infarctions than men (acute pulmonary edema or cardiogenic shock occurred in 24.8% of women and 10.5% of men) (all P<.02). Men were more likely than women to receive thrombolytic therapy (41.3% vs 23.9%; P<.001), but rates of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and coronary artery bypass graft surgery at 28 days were similar among men and women. The 28-day mortality rate was significantly higher among women (18.5% for women, 8.3% for men; P<.001). Revascularization procedures at 6 months were performed in a similar proportion of women and men. However, women had higher 6-month mortality rates (25.8% in women, 10.8% in men; P<.001) and readmission rates (23.3% for women, 12.2% for men; P<.001). After adjustment, women had greater risk of death than men at 28 days (odds ratio [OR], 1.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-2.65) and at 6 months (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.18-2.52).


CONCLUSIONS
In this study population, women experienced more lethal and severe first acute myocardial infarction than men, regardless of comorbidity, age, or previous angina.
Marrugat
J
J
Unitat de Lipids i Epidemiologia Cardiovascular, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica, Barcelona, Spain. jaume@imim.es
Sala
J
J
Masiá
R
R
Pavesi
M
M
Sanz
G
G
Valle
V
V
Molina
L
L
Serés
L
L
Elosua
R
R
D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D016019:Survival Analysis