Is There a Sex Gap in Surviving an Acute Coronary Syndrome or Subsequent Development of Heart Failure?

Background: We hypothesized that disparities between sexes in the management of myocardial infarction (MI) may have changed over time, and thus altered the prognoses after MI, especially the risk for the development of heart failure.

Methods: Using a large population-based cohort of patients with MI between April 1, 2002, and March 31, 2016, we examined the incidence, angiographic findings, treatment (including revascularization), and clinical outcomes of patients with a first-time MI. To elucidate the differences between sexes, a series of multivariable models were created to explore all MI and non-ST-segment-elevation MI (NSTEMI) versus ST-segment-elevation MI (STEMI) over time.

Results: Between 2002 and 2016, 45 064 patients (13 878 [30.8%] women) were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of first-time MI (54.9% NSTEMI and 45.1% STEMI). Women were older (median age, 72 versus 61 years), had more comorbidities, and had lower rates of diagnostic angiography than did men (women, 74%, versus men, 87%). When angiography was performed, women had a lower proportion of left main, 2-vessel disease with proximal left anterior descending or 3-vessel disease compared with men (33.4% versus 40.9%, P<0.0001), and a higher frequency of 1-vessel disease or nonobstructive coronary artery disease (39.6% versus 29.1%, P<0.0001). Women had a higher unadjusted rate of in-hospital mortality than did men in both patients with STEMI (women, 9.4%, versus men, 4.5%) and patients with NSTEMI (women, 4.7%, versus men, 2.9%). After adjustment, this difference remained significant in STEMI (adjusted odds ratio, 1.42 [95% CI, 1.24-1.64]) but not in NSTEMI (adjusted odds ratio, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.83-1.13]). After discharge, women developed heart failure after STEMI (women, 22.5%, versus men, 14.9%) as well as after NSTEMI (women, 23.2%, versus men, 15.7%). The adjusted relative risk for women versus men of developing the outcomes of mortality and heart failure remained similar across years, although the differences were nonsignificantly attenuated over 5 years of follow-up.

Conclusions: Although some attenuation of differences in clinical outcomes over time has occurred, women remain at higher risk than men of dying or developing heart failure in the subsequent 5 years after STEMI or NSTEMI, even after accounting for differences in angiographic findings, revascularization, and other confounders.