Effects of gender and ethnicity on outcomes after aortic valve replacement

To evaluate the clinical outcomes after aortic valve replacement or aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting in a large contemporary population, and to determine if outcomes are associated with patient ethnicity and gender status.

Using the Massachusetts Cardiac Surgery Database, we identified 6809 adults aged 18 years or older who had undergone isolated aortic valve replacement or aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting in all non-federal acute-care Massachusetts hospitals from 2002 to 2008. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify differences in patient characteristics, major morbidity, and 30-day and 1-year mortality between men (n=4043) and women (n=2766) and between whites (n=6481) and nonwhites (n=328).

The unadjusted 30-day mortality rate was 2.6% for the men and 3.1% for the women (P=.296) and 2.8% for whites and 3.7% for nonwhites (P=.342). In adjusted logistic regression models, the 30-day mortality was not different between the female and male patients (odds ratio, 0.88; 95% confidence interval, 0.26-3.02, P=.84) nor between the nonwhites and whites (odds ratio, 1.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.45-5.44; P=.48). The incidence of postoperative stroke was greater in women (3.0% women and 2.2% men, P=.031), and the incidence of postoperative myocardial infarction (10.9% women and 13.6% men; P=.001) and septicemia (1.2% women and 2.0% men; P=.009) was greater in men.

Ethnicity and gender were not associated with greater 30-day and 1-year mortality after aortic valve replacement or aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting. Differences in postoperative outcomes were not observed between ethnic groups.