Sex Differences in Characteristics, Resource Utilization, and Outcomes of Cardiogenic Shock: Data From the Critical

Lori B Daniels1, Nicholas Phreaner1, David D Berg2

  • 1Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla (L.B.D., N.P.).

Insights

Women with heart failure-related cardiogenic shock (HF-CS) experienced shorter hospital stays but higher mortality than men. Further research is needed to understand and eliminate these sex-based outcome disparities in HF-CS.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Critical Care Medicine
  • Sex Differences Research

Background:

  • Cardiovascular diseases exhibit known sex disparities in management and outcomes.
  • Limited data exists on sex-based differences in cardiogenic shock (CS).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate sex-related differences in the characteristics, resource utilization, and outcomes of patients experiencing cardiogenic shock.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Critical Care Cardiology Trials Network (35 North American centers, 2018-2022).
  • Stratified CS patients into CS post-acute myocardial infarction and heart failure-related CS (HF-CS).
  • Employed multivariable logistic regression for analysis.

Main Results:

  • Among 3923 CS patients (32% female), women with HF-CS had shorter CICU and hospital stays but received less pulmonary artery catheterization and mechanical circulatory support.
  • Women with HF-CS experienced higher in-hospital mortality (34% vs. 23%) even after adjusting for confounders.
  • No significant sex differences were observed in CS post-acute myocardial infarction regarding interventions or mortality.

Conclusions:

  • Women with HF-CS showed lower utilization of key interventions and higher mortality compared to men, irrespective of age, illness severity, or comorbidities.
  • Identified need to explore reasons for treatment decision variations to address outcome gaps in HF-CS.
Abstract