Women Undergoing Coronary Angiography for Myocardial Infarction or Who Present With Multivessel Disease Have a Poorer Prognosis Than Men

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease affects both men and women. In this study, we examine sex-specific differences in occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) after coronary angiography.

METHODS: We analyzed data from the coronary angiography cohort Utrecht Coronary Biobank (n = 1283 men, 480 women). Using Kaplan-Meier and multivariable Cox-regression, we tested for sex differences in MACE occurrence. Additionally, we compared mortality with an age- and sex-matched control group from the general Dutch population.

RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 2.1 years (interquartile range 1.6-2.8), MACEs occurred in 265 men and 103 women (20.7% vs 21.3%, P = .744). Women with myocardial infarction (MI) had significantly more MACE during follow-up than men (hazard ratio [HR] 1.66 for female sex, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10-2.50, P = .015), which was also the case for women who had multivessel disease (HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.03-1.94, P = .031). During follow-up, mortality in women presenting with MI was higher than mortality of women in the general population; men with MI did not show this disadvantage.

CONCLUSION: MACEs occurred more often in women than in men who presented with MI or who had angiographic multivessel disease upon coronary angiography.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02304744. URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02304744.