A US study published in the European Heart Journal suggests that bypass surgery may provide better long-term outcomes than angioplasty for women with clogged arteries.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, accounting for 30 per cent of female deaths each year, according to the World Heart Federation. Each year, more than twice as many women die from heart disease as from all types of cancer combined.
Despite this, women are often under-diagnosed, under-treated, and under-represented in clinical trials, leaving patients and doctors less aware of the unique symptoms and treatment needs of women.
To determine which procedure is more effective, researchers compared 2,033 women who received angioplasty with a closely matched group who underwent bypass surgery. The women, averaging 66 years of age, had extensive high-risk artery blockages.
Over a median follow-up of five years, about 36 per cent of women who received stents experienced a major cardiovascular event, including heart attack, stroke, repeat procedures or re-hospitalisation for heart conditions, compared with 22 per cent of women who underwent bypass surgery.
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Women treated with stents also faced a roughly 30 per cent higher risk of dying from any cause during follow-up, though death rates were similar between the groups in the first six months after the procedures.
“Over the long term, bypass surgery seems to be more protective compared to stenting,” the lead author said.
But women are currently about half as likely as men to receive bypass surgery.
Although bypass surgery shows better long-term results, the researchers say treatment should be tailored to each woman’s anatomy, surgical risk and personal preferences.
