Sex differences in 30-day and 5-year outcomes after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms in the EUROSTAR study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of sex on 30-day and long-term outcomes after elective endovascular aneurysm repair.

Methods: Patients entered into the European collaborators on stent graft techniques for abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EUROSTAR) study formed the basis of our study. Data were analyzed by means of multivariable logistic regression for 30-day mortality and composite outcome of mortality, systemic complication, or conversion. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were used to compare long-term survival and long-term event-free survival times between women and men. The log-rank test was used to test for differences. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to analyze survival and event-free survival (with end point mortality or reintervention). Multivariable analyses were adjusted for age, comorbidities, aneurysm characteristics, and treatment characteristics.

Results: There were 623 women and 8604 men available for analysis. No difference in 30-day mortality was demonstrated for women compared with men (odds ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.48-1.67), but women did have a significantly higher cumulative incidence of the composite end point (odds ratio, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.05-1.66). The Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated worse outcomes for both long-term survival (P = .05) and long-term event-free survival (P =.005). Survival analyses adjusting for covariates demonstrated a higher albeit nonsignificant difference in long-term mortality for women compared to men (hazard rate ratio, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.96-1.53) and a significant higher rate of the composite end point mortality or reintervention (hazard rate ratio, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.07-1.54).

Conclusions: Women undergoing endovascular aortic repair have higher complication and reintervention rates compared with men, implying that the role of elective endovascular aneurysm repair in women needs to be examined more closely.