Clinical differences between men and women undergoing surgery for acute Type A aortic dissection

OBJECTIVES: The differences in clinical features, surgical outcome and long-term prognosis between men and women who undergo surgery for Type A aortic dissection are not well known. METHODS: From January 2004 to December 2016, 303 patients, consisting of 147 women and 156 men, underwent surgery for acute Type A aortic dissection at our institution. We compared clinical outcomes between the 2 cohorts. RESULTS: Women were older than men (72.6 vs 63.0; P < 0.001). Operative mortality was similar between the groups (8.2% vs 8.9%; P = 0.80). The duration of intensive care unit stay (54 vs 64 h median; P = 0.03) and mechanical ventilator support (34 vs 43 h; P =0.02) was significantly shorter in women. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that preoperative cardiopulmonary resuscitation, cardiac tamponade, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, haemodialysis and longer cardiopulmonary bypass time were independent risk factors for early death. Among the hospital survivors, the actuarial survival rate was 59.0% in women and 65.7% in men at 10 years (P= 0.81). During the follow-up period, there were 9 female and 27 male patients who underwent reoperation related to the aortic dissection. The rate of 10-year actuarial freedom from reoperation was 80.7% in women and 53.1% in men (log-rank P = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: No differences were observed in both early and long-term mortality between women and men. Male patients had a significantly higher rate of reoperation.