Sex differences in mortality following acute coronary syndromes.
BACKGROUND
Conflicting information exists about whether sex differences modulate short-term mortality following acute coronary syndromes (ACS).


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between sex and 30-day mortality in ACS, and to determine whether this relationship was modified by clinical syndrome or coronary anatomy using a large database across the spectrum of ACS and adjusting for potentially confounding clinical covariates.


METHODS
A convenience sample of patients pooled from 11 independent, international, randomized ACS clinical trials between 1993 and 2006 whose databases are maintained at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina. Of 136 247 patients, 38 048 (28%) were women; 102 004 (26% women) with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), 14 466 (29% women) with non-STEMI (NSTEMI), and 19 777 (40% women) with unstable angina.


METHODS
Thirty-day mortality following ACS.


RESULTS
Thirty-day mortality was 9.6% in women and 5.3% in men (odds ratio [OR], 1.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.83-2.00). After multivariable adjustment, mortality was not significantly different between women and men (adjusted OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.99-1.15). A significant sex by type of ACS interaction was demonstrated (P < .001). In STEMI, 30-day mortality was higher among women (adjusted OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.06-1.24), whereas in NSTEMI (adjusted OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.63-0.95) and unstable angina, mortality was lower among women (adjusted OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.43-0.70). In a cohort of 35 128 patients with angiographic data, women more often had nonobstructive (15% vs 8%) and less often had 2-vessel (25% vs 28%) and 3-vessel (23% vs 26%) coronary disease, regardless of ACS type. After additional adjustment for angiographic disease severity, 30-day mortality among women was not significantly different than men, regardless of ACS type. The relationship between sex and 30-day mortality was similar across the levels of angiographic disease severity (P for interaction = .70).


CONCLUSIONS
Sex-based differences existed in 30-day mortality among patients with ACS and vary depending on clinical presentation. However, these differences appear to be largely explained by clinical differences at presentation and severity of angiographically documented disease.
Berger
Jeffrey S
JS
Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, 530 First Ave, Skirball 9R, New York, NY 10016, USA. jeffrey.berger@nyumc.org
Elliott
Laine
L
Gallup
Dianne
D
Roe
Matthew
M
Granger
Christopher B
CB
Armstrong
Paul W
PW
Simes
R John
RJ
White
Harvey D
HD
Van de Werf
Frans
F
Topol
Eric J
EJ
Hochman
Judith S
JS
Newby
L Kristin
LK
Harrington
Robert A
RA
Califf
Robert M
RM
Becker
Richard C
RC
Douglas
Pamela S
PS
D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000401:mortality*; D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors
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