Cor Vasa 2009, 51(6):404-409 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2009.104

Sex differences in the perioperative and postoperative courses of treatment in adult patients undergoing stenotic aortic valve replacement

Josef Bešík^1,3,*, Jan Pirk^1,3, Ivan Netuka^1,3, Ondrej Szarszoi^1,3, Jiří Malý^1,3, Bohuslav Ošťádal^2,3

¹ Klinika kardiovaskulární chirurgie, Institut klinické a experimentální medicíny

² Fyziologický ústav Akademie věd České republiky

³ Centrum výzkumu chorob srdce a cév, Praha, Česká republika

Aim: To determine whether a higher resistance of the female hypertrophied myocardium to ischemic-reperfusion injury can be seen also in clinical medicine.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of perioperative and postoperative courses of treatment in hormonally active adult patients undergoing surgery for aortic replacement in our center from 1 January 1995 through 30 June 2004. All patients had aortic valve replacement from midline sternotomy. We were looking for any sex differences.

Results: There was no intraoperative or in-hospital death. We did not find any sex differences in the length of hospital stay or the need for inotropic support. We did document a sex difference in the incidence of perioperative transient atrioventricular block of a higher degree (AVB II/III); it was present statistically significantly more often in males than in females.

Conclusion: A higher resistance of the female hypertrophied myocardium to ischemia can also be seen in clinical practice.

Keywords: Aortic stenosis; Left ventricular hypertrophy; Aortic valve replacement; Surgical outcomes; Sex differences

Published: June 1, 2009  Show citation