Gender based differences in drug eluting stent implantation - data from the German ALKK registry suggest underuse of DES in elderly women.

Background: Observational studies suggest there are gender based differences in the treatment of coronary artery disease, with women receiving evidence based therapy less frequently than suggested by current guidelines. The aim of our study was to evaluate gender based differences in the use of DES.

Methods: We analysed prospectively collected data from 100704 stent implantations in the PCI registry of the ALKK between 2005 and 2009.