Women do have an improved long-term outcome after non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes treated very early and predominantly with percutaneous coronary intervention

Objectives This study sought to assess gender-based differences in long-term outcome after very early aggressive revascularization for non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTACS). Background The Fragmin and fast Revascularization during InStability in Coronary artery disease (FRISC) II study suggested that women have less to gain from an early invasive strategy. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study in 1,450 consecutive patients with NSTACS undergoing coronary angiography and subsequent coronary stenting of the culprit lesion as the primary revascularization strategy within 24 h of admission. The combined primary end point was defined as death or nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and recorded for a mean of 20 months. Results Percutaneous coronary intervention was performed in more than 50% of patients in women and men and accompanied with stenting in 80%. The percutaneous coronary intervention:coronary artery bypass grafting ratio was 4:1 in men and 5:1 in women. The primary end point occurred in 29 (7.0%) women as compared with 108 (10.5%) men (hazard ratio for women, 0.65; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42 to 0.99; p = 0.045). Backward-stepwise multivariate Cox regression analysis identified female gender as an independent predictor of death or MI (hazard ratio for female gender, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.28 to 0.92; p = 0.024). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that women had consistently lower event rates during the entire follow-up period (p = 0.037 by log-rank for death or MI). Conclusions Women treated with very early aggressive revascularization with coronary stenting of the culprit lesion as the primary revascularization strategy have a better long-term outcome as compared with men.