COMPARISON OF ACUTE MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION EVOLUTION IN MEN AND WOMEN

Background: Gender may be a prognostic factor for the evolution of acu te myocardial infarction and women may have higher mortality and compl ication rates. Aim To study if there are differences in the evolution of acute myocardial infarction between men and women. Patients and met hods: We have recorded information on risk factors, clinical evolution treatment and complications of 2052 patients hospitalized for acute m yocardial infarction in 36 Chilean hospitals. The odds ratio for femal e sex and mortality was calculated using a logistic regression analysi s adjusted for risk factors, treatment, invasive procedures and compli cations. Results: Twenty six percent of analyzed patients were female. Mortality rates among females and males were 11.8 and 20.2% respectiv ely (p<0.01). Women had higher frequency of smoking, diabetes, obesity and hypertension. Blood lipid levels were similar in both sexes. Comp ared to men, a lesser proportion of women were treated with thrombolyt ic agents (25 and 35% respectively), intravenous heparin (54 and 61% r espectively), beta blockers (31 and 42% respectively) and intravenous nitrates (53 and 61% respectively). Also, women were subjected to less invasive procedures. The odds ratio for mortality and sex was 1.72 (c onfidence interval from 1.13 to 2.62). Conclusions: Female sex is an i ndependent risk factor for acute myocardial infarction mortality.