Gender disparities in ventricular tachycardia: evaluating clinical outcomes and interventions
Authors: Olarte N , Vincent L , Loyd Q , Ebner B , Grant J , Maning J , Hernandez R J , Rivera-Rodriguez B , Giraldo M , Lambrakos L 
Published: October 2022

Background

Gender differences in the etiology of ventricular arrhythmia are well-known and can potentially affect clinical outcomes. Women have been under-represented in studies investigating ventricular tachycardia (VT). Thus, gender differences in clinical outcomes of VT are poorly defined.

Purpose

We sought to elucidate the clinical outcomes and interventions among women with VT.

Methods

We used the National Inpatient Sample to identify patients aged 18 and older admitted with VT from 2011 to 2019. Observations missing data on age, sex and mortality were excluded. Baseline characteristics include age, race, and comorbidities related to cardiovascular disease. Severity of comorbidities was assessed via the Deyo-Charlson Comorbidity Index (Deyo-CCI) score. Outcomes investigated include all-cause mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), and incidence of catheter ablation, cardioversion, and automated implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD) insertion. Gender and outcomes association were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression adjusted for baseline characteristics that were significantly different (P&lt;0.05) between cohorts expressed as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). SPSS v28.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY) was used to carry out all calculations.

Results

Between 2011 and 2019, there were an estimated 3,544,445 hospital admissions for VT, of which, 33.8% were women, who were more likely to be older (69.2 vs 68.0 years) and of minority descent (30.3% vs 26.7%) compared to men. Women were less likely to have coronary artery disease (43.5% vs 62.2%) or ischemic cardiomyopathy (5.0% vs 11.9%) and had a lower mean Deyo-CCI score (2.2 vs 2.4; p&lt;0.001 for all). Women had a higher incidence of mortality (10.6% vs 9.2%) and ischemic stroke (5.3% vs 4.5%), but less acute coronary syndrome (17.6% vs 21.4%; p&lt;0.001 for all). Overall incidence of MACE was lower among women (28.6% vs 31.4%; p&lt;0.001). Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that female sex remained independently associated with increased odds for all-cause mortality (aOR: 1.089; 95% CI: [1.062–1.116], p&lt;0.001) although decreased odds for MACE (aOR: 0.952; 95% CI: [0.939–0.965]). Female sex was also independently associated with decreased odds for cardioversion (aOR: 0.936; 95% CI: [0.910–0.963]), AICD insertion, (aOR: 0.737; 95% CI: [0.711–0.764]) and ablation (aOR: 0.806; 95% CI: [0.766–0.847]; all p&lt;0.001).

Conclusion

In this retrospective analysis of patients hospitalized with VT, women had less coronary artery disease and less MACE, yet all-cause mortality was higher. Female sex was also independently associated with fewer interventions, including AICD insertion and ablation. Although there are gender differences in risk factors and causes of VT, this does not fully explain disparities in care and outcomes. Further studies are needed to explore and elucidate these gender disparities.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.