Objectives: To assess differences in morbidity and mortality between men and women with acute myocardial infarction treated with thrombolytic therapy and the relation of differences to baseline patient characteristics and clinical features.
Design: Secondary analysis of observational findings among women and men enrolled in a clinical trial.
Setting: Hospitals participating in the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Phase II trial.
Measurements: Recurrent infarctions and deaths were assessed.
Main results: The 6-week mortality rate was greater for women than for men (9% compared with 4%; adjusted relative risk, 1.54; P = 0.01). Death or reinfarction occurred in 15.9% of women and 9.5% of men (adjusted relative risk, 1.33; P = 0.02). Among patients enrolled for treatment with 100 mg of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator and assigned to a conservative strategy of watchful waiting with appropriate backup, the 6-week incidence of death was 7.5% for women and 3.8% for men (P = 0.01). The 6-week incidences of death or reinfarction were 14.2% and 8.9% (P = 0.01) among women and men, respectively.
Conclusions: Among patients in the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Phase II Trial, who all were diagnosed with myocardial infarction and were eligible to receive thrombolytic therapy, women had higher rates of mortality and morbidity than did men. Older age at the time of myocardial infarction and a history of diabetes accounted for much but probably not all of this difference.