Long term prognostic impact of gender in patients with stable coronary disease: an analysis of the CICCOR registry, a seventeen years, prospective, monocentric, cohort study

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Women and men with stable coronary artery disease (sCAD) have different clinical features and management, but 1-year prognosis has been reported to be similar in large observational registries. The objective of the present study was to investigate the impact of female sex in the prognosis of the disease in the very long-term. Methods The CICCOR registry (“Chronic ischaemic heart disease in Cordoba”) is a prospective, monocentric, cohort study. From February 1, 2000 to January 31, 2004, all consecutive patients with sCAD attended at two outpatient cardiology clinics in a city of the south of Spain were included in the study and prospectively followed. Differential clinical features of women and men were described and the impact of female sex in long term prognosis was investigated. Results The study sample included 1268 patients, 337 women (27%) and 931 men (73% male). Women were older than men (70±9 versus 65±11 years, p<0.0005), more likely to have hypertension (72% versus 49%, p<0.0005) and diabetes (45% versus 26%), and less likely to be ex-smoker/active smoker (5%/2% versus 49%/9%, p<0.0005). They had more frequently angina in functional class ≥II (22% versus 17%, p=0.04) and atrial fibrillation (8% versus 5%, p=0.04), but had received less frequently coronary revascularization (32% versus 44%, p<0.0005). Prescription of statins (64% versus 68%, p=0.22), antiplatelets (89% versus 93%, p=0.07) and betablockers (67% versus 63%, p=0.28) at first visit was similar than men, but women received more frequently nitrates (78% versus 64%, p<0.0005), angiotensin-conversing enzyme inhibitors or receptor antagonists (56% versus 47%, p=0.004) and diuretics (41% versus 22%, p<0.0005). After up to 17 years of follow-up (median 11 years, IQR 4–15 years, with a total of 12612 patients-years of observation), probabilities of acute myocardial infarction (12% versus 14%, p=0.55) or stroke (14% versus 12%, p=0.40) at median follow up were similar for women and men. However, the risks of hospital admission for heart failure (22% versus 13%, p<0.0005) or cardiovascular death (35% versus 24%, p<0.0005) were significantly higher for women, with a non-significant trend to higher overall mortality (45% versus 39%, p=0.07). After multivariate adjustment, the risks of most events were similar for women and men (Hazard Ratios [95% confidence intervals]: 0.79 [0.55–1.14], p=0.21 for acute myocardial infarction; 0.89 [0.61–1.29], p=0.54 for stroke; 1.13 [0.82–1.57], p=0.46 for admission for heart failure; and 0.92 [0.73–1.16], p=0.48 for cardiovascular death), with a non-significant trend to lower overall mortality (0.83 [0.67–1.02], p=0.08). Conclusion Although women and men with sCAD presents a different clinical profile, and crude rates of hospital admissions for heart failure and cardiovascular death were higher in women, female sex was not an independent prognostic factor in this observational study with up to 17 years of follow-up. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None