Contemporary Trends and Age‐Specific Sex Differences in Management and Outcome for Patients With ST‐Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

BACKGROUND: Age- and sex-specific differences exist in the treatment and outcome of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We sought to describe age- and sex-matched contemporary trends of in-hospital management and outcome of patients with STEMI. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed data from 5 Italian nationwide prospective registries, conducted between 2001 and 2014, including consecutive patients with STEMI. All the analyses were age- and sex-matched, considering 4 age classes: <55, 55 to 64, 65 to 74, and ≥75 years. A total of 13 235 patients were classified as having STEMI (72.1% men and 27.9% women). A progressive shift from thrombolysis to primary percutaneous coronary intervention occurred over time, with a concomitant increase in overall reperfusion rates (P for trend <0.0001), which was consistent across sex and age classes. The crude rates of in-hospital death were 3.2% in men and 8.4% in women (P<0.0001), with a significant increase over age classes for both sexes and a significant decrease over time for both sexes (all P for trend <0.01). On multivariable analysis, age (odds ratio 1.09, 95% CI 1.07-1.10, P<0.0001) and female sex (odds ratio 1.44, 95% CI 1.07-1.93, P=0.009) were found to be significantly associated with in-hospital mortality after adjustment for other risk factors, but no significant interaction between these 2 variables was observed (P for interaction=0.61). CONCLUSIONS: Despite a nationwide shift from thrombolytic therapy to primary percutaneous coronary intervention for STEMI affecting both sexes and all ages, women continue to experience higher in-hospital mortality than men, irrespective of age.