Clinical research study
Early Invasive Versus Initial Conservative Strategies for Women with Non–ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes: A Nationwide Analysis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2017.01.049Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

Studies conducted largely in men have shown improved outcomes with an early invasive strategy with non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome. In contrast, data have been less conclusive in women, with some trials demonstrating potential harm. This study aims to assess whether an early invasive strategy in women is associated with better outcomes in real-world data.

Methods

Women admitted with a primary diagnosis of non–ST-elevation myocardial infarction or unstable angina were identified from the National Inpatient Sample years 2012 and 2013. The incidence of in-hospital mortality in women with non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome undergoing an early invasive strategy versus an initial conservative strategy was compared using a propensity score–matched analysis.

Results

Among 372,080 women with non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome, 153,680 (41.3%) were managed with an early invasive strategy and 218,400 (58.7%) were managed with an initial conservative strategy. Propensity score–matched 19,965 women were treated with an early invasive strategy, and 20,009 women were treated with an initial conservative strategy. The risk of in-hospital mortality was lower with an early invasive strategy (2.1% vs 3.8%; odds ratio [OR], 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49-0.62). This benefit was noted in women presenting with non–ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.46-0.58) and was not observed in women with unstable angina (OR, 5.14; 95% CI, 0.47-56.9), Pinteraction = .06. A propensity-adjusted analysis yielded similar results (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.45-0.57).

Conclusions

In this large contemporary observational analysis of women with non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome, an early invasive strategy was associated with lower in-hospital mortality. This benefit was observed in women presenting with non–ST-elevation myocardial infarction but not with unstable angina. These findings provide evidence supporting the guideline recommendations for an early invasive strategy in women with non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome and high-risk features (eg, troponin positive).

Section snippets

Data Source

Data were obtained from the NIS database years 2012 and 2013. The NIS represents discharge data from approximately 20% stratified sample of US hospitals. The NIS is a part of the Healthcare Quality and Utilization Project, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.10 Starting from 2012, the NIS was redesigned to include a random sample of patient discharges rather than a random sample of hospitals retaining their discharges, which resulted in more precise national estimates.

Results

Among 372,080 women admitted with non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome in the NIS database years 2012 and 2013 (349,560 presented with non–ST-elevation myocardial infarction, and 22,520 presented with unstable angina), 153,680 (41.3%) were managed with an early invasive strategy and 218,400 (58.7%) were managed with an initial conservative strategy. Before propensity score matching, there were differences between the 2 groups in several of the baseline patient-related and hospital-related

Discussion

To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest study to compare an early invasive strategy with an initial conservative strategy exclusively in women. In this observational analysis on a large, real-world population of women with non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome admitted across the United States in 2012 and 2013, we demonstrated that an early invasive strategy was associated with a lower incidence of in-hospital mortality compared with an initial conservative strategy. This benefit

Conclusions

In this large contemporary observational analysis of women with non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome, an early invasive strategy was associated with lower in-hospital mortality. This benefit was observed in women presenting with non–ST-elevation myocardial infarction but not with unstable angina. These findings provide evidence supporting the guideline recommendations for an early invasive strategy in women with non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome and high-risk features (eg, troponin

References (15)

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Funding: None.

Conflict of Interest: AAB declares honorarium from the American College of Cardiology.

Authorship: All authors had access to the data and played a role in writing this manuscript.

IYE and ANM equally contributed to this article.

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