Women Have Higher Risk of Dying after Bypass

An analysis of the records of more than 51,000 patients who underwent bypass surgery has shown that women have a risk of dying after surgery that is three times higher than the risk to men. The research was reported in the February 18, 2002, online issue of Circulation.

Overall, 5.3% of the women in the study died in the hospital compared with 2.9% of the men. Also, 3.4% of women under 50 died compared with 1.1% of men. In the 50-59 age group, 2.6% of women died versus 1.1% of men. The mortality differences between the genders declined with older age. After correcting for factors that could explain the higher death rates in women, the risk remained high for younger women. Those under 50 were three times as likely to die as men in the same age bracket.

"Women tended to have more pre-existing illnesses and risk factors in their medical history, but they had less-extensive coronary atherosclerosis, and their hearts had better pump function as detected by cardiac catheterization,” noted Viola Vaccarino, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA, USA) and the lead author. "It seems paradoxical, but that's what the data show.”





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