Outcome in cardiac surgery: differences between men and women

The leading cause of death in women is cardiovascular disease. This fact has been the subject of more attention in recent years and knowledge on the subject is increasing. After heart surgery, women have a higher mortality rate than men. The predictive value of risk factors for early mortality after a CABG (heart bypass surgery) is different for both sexes. Late mortality is also higher for women after a CABG, but if you equal both groups of men and women (the same number of risk factors) this difference is eliminated. This shows that being a woman is not a risk factor for death after a CABG. A so-called OPCAB (CABG without a heart lung machine) has a three times lower mortality rate in women compared to a CABG. Even after aortic valve replacement (AVR), women have more risk factors with poorer survival. After adjusting for these risk factors, survival is equal to that of men. The female sex is an independent factor for receiving blood transfusions after a CABG, more than twice as many.