Gender-based differences of percutaneous coronary intervention in the drug-eluting stent era.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to provide insights into percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) performed in women in the United States by evaluating gender-based PCI-practice patterns and outcomes.

Background: Limited "real world" contemporary data exist on how the introduction of DES has impacted PCI in women.

Methods And Results: Patients (359 women, 807 men) with de novo coronary artery disease having PCI (1,166) were evaluated during the first year, since the introduction of DES in the United States market (May 1, 2003 to April 30, 2004). Women were more likely to be older, hypertensive, obese, diabetic, and have heart failure. Men were more likely to be smokers and have more vessels with obstructive coronary artery disease. PCI procedural success rates, number of vessels attempted, percentage DES utilization, and in-hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE; death, new myocardial infarction, urgent revascularization) were similar for both genders. However, women had significantly higher unadjusted mortality (3.9% versus 1.6%, P = 0.01), cumulative vascular complications (12.0% versus 4.2%, P < 0.0001), and renal failure (2.5% versus 0.7%, P = 0.01). After adjustment for confounding variables, mortality was similar between genders, but a significant association with vascular complications and trend toward higher rates of renal failure persisted in women.

Conclusions: In this study of the modern era of PCI with DES utilization, in-hospital MACE is similar between men and women. However, the differences in baseline comorbidities and the proclivity for vascular and renal complications highlight the need for further investigation and improvements to optimize outcomes of PCI in women.