Impact of Bleeding and Bivalirudin Therapy on Mortality Risk in Women Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (from the REPLACE-2, ACUITY, and HORIZONS-AMI Trials).

Women have higher bleeding complication and mortality rates after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). The contribution of female gender to bleeding and mortality is poorly understood. We evaluated the effect of gender and bleeding on outcomes of patients treated with bivalirudin during PCI by performing a patient-level pooled analysis of 3 randomized controlled trials (the Randomized Evaluation in PCI Linking Angiomax to Reduced Clinical Events, Acute Catheterization and Urgent Intervention Triage strategY, and Harmonizing Outcomes with Revascularization and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction) comparing bivalirudin versus heparin plus glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor (GPI) treatment in patients undergoing PCI. Of 14,784 patients, 7,413 patients received bivalirudin (1,870 women) and 7,371 patients received heparin + GPI (1,910 women). Women had significantly higher 30-day non-coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)-related major bleeding rates (7.6% vs 3.8%, p <0.0001). After multivariate adjustment, female gender increased the hazard of major bleeding by 80% (hazard ratio 1.80, 95% confidence interval 1.52 to 2.11, p <0.001). Furthermore, women had a higher 1-year mortality rate (3.7% vs 2.7%, p = 0.002) than men; 30-day major bleeding was the strongest independent predictor of 1-year mortality in women (hazard ratio 2.48, 95% confidence interval 1.57 to 3.91, p = 0.001). Bivalirudin therapy in women reduced 30-day non-CABG-related major bleeding (5.6% vs 9.7%, p <0.0001) and 1-year mortality (2.9% vs 4.4%, p = 0.02) compared to standard therapy. In conclusion, in this cohort of patients treated for acute coronary syndrome and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, women have a near 2-fold increase in bleeding complications compared to men after PCI. Bleeding complications rather than gender is the strongest independent predictor of 1-year mortality in patients undergoing PCI. Furthermore, we observed a more pronounced clinical benefit in women treated with bivalirudin including a 44% reduction in major bleeding and a significant reduction in mortality rates at 1 year.

ST-segment resolution 60 minutes after combination treatment of abciximab with reteplase or reteplase alone for acute myocardial infarction (30-day mortality results from the resolution of ST-segment after reperfusion therapy substudy).

The combination of abciximab with thrombolytic therapy when treating acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction has been hypothesized to enhance microvascular perfusion. Resolution of ST-segment elevation after thrombolytic therapy is believed to be a marker of myocardial reperfusion and to predict mortality rate. Among 16,588 patients enrolled in the Fifth Global Use of Strategies to Open Occluded Arteries in Acute Myocardial Infarction trial, 1,764 consecutive patients from selected centers had their study electrocardiograms evaluated by a core laboratory for ST-segment deviation resolution 60 minutes after treatment. Patients were categorized into 4 groups: complete resolution (>70%), partial resolution (<70% to 30%), no resolution (<30%), and worsening ST-segment deviation. Patients treated with reteplase or a combination of reteplase plus abciximab had similar rates of complete resolution (32% vs 34%), partial resolution (29% vs 27%), no resolution (15% vs 16%), and worsening ST-segment elevation (23 vs 23%; p = 0.59). The 30-day mortality rates in these 4 groups were 2.1%, 5.2%, 5.5%, and 8.1% (p <0.001). Even after accounting for baseline variables, incomplete ST-segment resolution (<70%) was associated with an increased risk of death within 30 days (adjusted hazard ratio 2.41, 95% confidence interval 1.25 to 4.63, p <0.008). Thus, ST-segment resolution at 60 minutes was no different in patients treated with full-dose reteplase from those treated with a combination of abciximab and reteplase. Patients with >70% ST-segment resolution within 60 minutes had markedly decreased mortality rates, irrespective of treatment.