[Chronic total occlusions: Is there a woman specificity?]

Many differences have been reported regarding gender in angioplasty procedures (PCI), but their potential influence on clinical outcomes after CTO PCI has not been elucidated. Aim of this paper is to analyse these potential differences starting from 2 clinical cases. The basic features found in the two clinical cases presented here, older age and presence of diabetes (that are more frequent in women), are in line with the differences identified in non-CTO studies on angioplasty. Furthermore, CTO in women are generally under-diagnosed and less frequently treated by angioplasty than in men. These features combined to the often atypical clinical presentation could explain why women are generally less frequently enrolled in CTO registries than men. Although data on the impact of gender on this topic are scarce, it appears that, despite a clear outcome difference in patients who have a successful CTO angioplasty and similar success rates, women are still under-referred for a CTO angioplasty. Indeed, CTO angioplasty seems a valid therapeutic option, in women as in men.