RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The representation of women in heart failure studies has been inadequate, resulting in a knowledge gap regarding the prognostic impact of coronary artery disease (CAD) on all-cause mortality in women with newly diagnosed heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). OBJECTIVES: This study aims to assess the prognostic impact of CAD in women with HFrEF. METHODS: Using the Western Denmark Heart Registry, the authors identified 891 women and 2,403 men referred for first-time coronary angiography because of HFrEF. The authors stratified for presence of CAD, estimated 10-year all-cause mortality, and calculated crude and adjusted HRs (aHRs) with 95% CIs. RESULTS: The 10-year mortality was 60% in women with CAD and 27% in women without CAD; for men, the corresponding numbers were 54% and 36%. When adjusted for comorbidities, women without CAD had a lower relative 10-year mortality than men without CAD (aHR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.58-0.91), whereas women with CAD had similar relative mortality as men with CAD (aHR: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.81-1.24) (Pinteraction = 0.037). Assessed by the number of coronary vessels with significant stenosis, CAD extent was associated with mortality for both women (P < 0.01) and men (P < 0.01). However, compared to those without CAD, the aHR was higher for women with any degree of CAD (aHR ranging from 1.61 [95% CI: 1.09-2.38] for diffuse CAD to 2.01 [95% CI: 1.19-3.40] for 3-vessel disease) than for men with 3-vessel disease (aHR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.19-1.91). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with newly diagnosed HFrEF, the presence and extent of CAD has significantly greater prognostic impact among women than among men.
