title: Gender-related differences in elderly patients with myocardial infarction in a European Centre.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Weighing the benefit of revascularization procedures against the risk of adverse events is particularly challenging in elderly patients suffering acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Based on a general gender gap in coronary interventions, the restraint in invasive procedures may be particularly high in elderly women. We therefore investigated gender-related differences in the frequency of coronary interventions as well as gender- and age-specific outcomes after coronary interventions in patients with AMI.
  
  
  METHODS
  We included 906 AMI patients in the final analysis. Among patients ≥ 80 years (n = 453), the intention to intervention (lysis and/or coronary angiography) for women was significantly lower compared to men (65·7% vs. 80·8%; P < 0·001), whereas in patients < 80 years (n = 453), the rate was similar between both genders (94·8% vs. 95·1%, P = 0·89). However, the assessment of potential risk factors for adverse events did not explain the gender gap. When assessing the benefit of any coronary intervention (stenting and/or lysis and/or coronary artery bypass graft), elderly women benefited at least as much with a hazard ratio (HR) for cardiovascular mortality of 0·56 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0·37-0·84, P = 0·005) compared to a HR of 0·96 (95% CI 0·76-1·23, P = 0·766) in elderly men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed a lower intention to coronary intervention in elderly women compared with men. However, the distribution of risk factors in elderly women and men who did not undergo coronary intervention was similar and therefore seemed not to be causal for the gender gap although the benefit of any coronary interventions was even higher in elderly women.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sulzgruber
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Lorenz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koller
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Noemi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pavo
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Feras
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: El-Hamid
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: David-Jonas
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Rothgerber
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Forster
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Maurer
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Goliasch
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Niessner
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000601:surgery*; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D015607:Stents
keywords: Acute myocardial infarction; PCI; angiography; elderly; intervention