This higher mortality rate is partly accounted for by certain known characteristics inherent in the female population age, diabetes. Methods and results: Patients presenting within 24 hours of pain onset between and were included in the study. The male and female subpopulations were compared according to their baseline characteristics, their management delays and their early outcomes. Five thousand eight hundred and forty males In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in women than in men, 9.
The increase in the time to treatment alone does not completely explain the persistent increase in mortality. Further studies, public awareness programmes and physician education are necessary to reduce delays and improve the prognosis of STEMI in women.
In patients presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction STEMI , reduced time to treatment initiation and reperfusion thrombolysis or primary percutaneous coronary intervention [pPCI] have been shown to improve survival significantly. Rescue and adjunctive PCI are effective therapies after thrombolytic therapy 1,2.
Studies of sex differences in mortality after myocardial infarction MI have consistently indicated that women have higher death rates, especially in short-term follow-up. The differences in baseline and procedural characteristics, such as more advanced age, a higher percentage of diabetics and cardiogenic shock, cannot wholly explain the discrepancy in outcome 3.
Late presentation and a lower rate in the use of reperfusion therapy may account for increased mortality. The Greater Paris area is the most populated region of France In-hospital mortality is cross-checked using another hospital database PMSI. An external audit was carried out every year in every centre to assess the quality and the completeness of the database. Random selection of patient files was performed over a two-week period with the aim of checking the records of patients admitted for chest pain.
