CLINICAL PROFILE AND SURVIVAL OF WOMEN WI TH ACUTE MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION - UTE-MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTIONS-OF-THE-CITY-OF-VALENCIA (RICVAL)

Introduction and objectives. The prevalence of women who are admitted to the hospital after acute myocardial infarction is lower to that of men and their prognosis is worse. The reason for these differences is unclear. We studied the demographic and historical variables, the evol ution, treatment and early survival in 269 women included in the Regis ter of Acute Myocardial Infarctions of the City of Valencia (RICVAL) a nd compared them with the 855 men included in the same Register. Patie nts and methods. Register of patients admitted into a Coronary Care Un it in the City of Valencia since December, 1st, 1993 until November 30 th, 1994. Results. 23.9% of the patients were women with a mean age of 71.9 +/- 9 years; 46.8% of them were diabetics, 55.4% hypertensives, and 6.7% smokers. The women arrived for treatment later than men and 3 4.9% of them were thrombolysed. The incidence in women of severe heart failure (Killip III and IV) was 40.1% and the mortality 29.7%. In wom en with thrombolytic treatment the mortality was 29.8%. In the logisti c regression model performed, female sex predicted a higher mortality rate (odds ratio [OR] = 1.30; confiance interval [CI], 1.05-1.61).Conc lusions. Early mortality in women after acute myocardial infarction is higher than in men in the RICVAL Register. The longer delay in initia ting medical care and thrombolysis might be the cause for the higher p roportion of heart failure among women and explain their worse prognos is after an acute myocardial infarction compared to men.