Early Postoperative Results of On-Pump Coronary Endarterectomy: Is Gender a Risk Factor?

Coronary endarterectomy (CE) combined with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is an effective but still controversial surgical strategy for the treatment of diffuse coronary artery disease. In this study, we aimed to investigate the impact of gender differences on operative and early postoperative results of patients who underwent CABG with CE.

This retrospective study included 141 patients who had undergone CE combined with CABG from January 2015 to December 2020, as well as 141 patients without CE as the control group. First, patients with and without CE were compared. Next, patients undergoing CE were divided into 2 groups according to gender (group 1, male patients; group 2, female patients).

Of the 141 patients who underwent CE combined with on-pump CABG, 95 (67.3%) were male, and median age was 66 years (range 58 to 71.2). Of the 141 patients who underwent isolated on-pump CABG, 99 (70.2%) were males, and median age was 63 years (range 41 to 80.4). The data for these 2 groups (with and without CE) were compared. Previous percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), presence of diabetes mellitus, and perfusion time were significantly more common in the CE group. There were 95 patients in group 1, with a median age of 65 years (range 58 to 69), and 46 patients in group 2, with a median age of 66 (64 to 71.2). There were no difference between the groups in terms of age, body mass index, hyperlipidemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral artery disease, or previous coronary intervention. The need for positive inotropic support and postoperative atrial fibrillation were found to be significantly more common in group 2 (P = .022 and .039, respectively). Defibrillation after releasing the aortic cross clamp was also significantly more common in group 2 (P = .025).

In our study, the need for defibrillation after aortic cross-clamp releasing in the perioperative period, the need for inotropic support and the incidence of atrial fibrillation in the post-operative period, increased significantly in the female gender. CE can be performed safely in both genders with acceptable mortality and morbidity rates.