Gender and secondary risk assessment following an ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Abstract

Elizabeth Scruth,1,3 Linda Worrall-Carter,1 Eugene Cheng2 1St Vincent’s/ACU Centre for Nursing Research, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; 2Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, San Jose, CA, USA; 3Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA, USA Purpose: The Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk score, Global Register of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score, and the Controlled Abciximab and Device Investigation to Lower Late Angioplasty Complications (CADILLAC) risk score are validated predictors of secondary events and death after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). In our study, we sought to examine the predictability of the TIMI, GRACE, and the CADILLAC risk scores in women undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) for in-hospital, 1-year major cardiac events, nonmajor cardiac events, and mortality. A limited number of studies examining the secondary risk scores for use after STEMI in women have been conducted. Most studies have been conducted in both men and women without separating out the predictability in women in regard to the various risk scores. Patients and methods: In a subanalysis of women from a larger study of both men and women with STEMI, a 1-year follow up of 77 women with STEMI was undertaken using a retrospective approach and comparing the TIMI, GRACE, and CADILLAC risk scores for in-hospital and 1-year outcomes of major cardiac events, nonmajor cardiac events, and death. The predictive value of the models was assessed with evaluation of the area under the curve in receiver operating-characteristic analysis. Results: The study revealed that risk stratification of female patients with STEMI early after presentation using the TIMI risk score or after angiography using the CADILLAC risk score may provide important prognostic information and enable accurate identification of high-risk patients. Conclusion: Though limited by sample size and retrospective analysis, our study provided evidence into the validity of using existing secondary risk tools in women. Further studies are needed to determine the risk score that is most predictive for women presenting with STEMI and treated with percutaneous coronary intervention. It may be useful to incorporate the risk scores into clinical practice to guide short- and long-term follow-up after STEMI in women as a preventive strategy. Keywords: cardiovascular risk, acute coronary syndromes, nonmajor cardiac events, major cardiac events