[Difference of hospital mortality of acute myocardial infarction between men and women treated with primary angioplasty].
OBJECTIVE
To compare the in-hospital case-fatality rate of men and women submitted to percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) as a strategy of reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction (MI).


METHODS
A retrospective cohort study based on information abstracted from medical records of MI patients admitted to a hospital where PTCA is used as the preferred method for early myocardial reperfusion. A total of 83 patients, 35 (42%) women and 48 (58%) men, who met the criteria for early myocardial reperfusion was included in the analysis.


RESULTS
The mean age of women was higher than that of men (66 +/- 10 vs 58 +/- 11 years; p < 0.001). The women also had a higher frequency of diabetes mellitus (37.1% vs 6.4%; p < 0.001). Despite these differences in age and in the frequency of diabetes mellitus, the percentage of patients in whom the PTCA was considered successful was similar between men (83.3%) and women (82.3%). The case-fatality rate was also similar between men and women; 14.6% and 14.3%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The possibility that the excess risk of death in women with MI may be reduced and even eliminated with the use of PTCA, supports to the need for the development of a clinical trial to assess this question.
Passos
L C
LC
Hospital Português, Salvador, BA.
Lopes
A A
AA
Esteves
F P
FP
Santos
F M
FM
D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors