Sex-specific differences in early occlusion rate after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background This study aimed to assess whether there is a difference in early bypass graft occlusion rates after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) between males and females.Methods Consecutive adult patients undergoing isolated CABG surgery were included. Bypass graft patency was assessed in a postoperative electrocardiogram-gated coronary bypass computed tomography heart scan before discharge. Follow-up data included mortality, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, rehospitalizations, and cardiac reinterventions.Results A total of 589 patients (mean [Standard deviation, SD] age 67 ± 9.4 years) were included, of whom 16% (n=95) being female. Bypass graft occlusion was detected in 45/589 patients (7.6%) and was seen significantly more often in female patients compared to male patients (n=13 [13.7%] versus n=32 [6.5%], p=0.02). This resulted in 14/292 (4.8%) and 35/1690 (2.0%) occluded grafts (p<0.01), respectively. Female sex was significantly associated with higher odds of graft occlusion (Odds Ratio = 2.6, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.1-5.7, p = 0.02). During the median follow-up of 14.5 months (interquartile range: 13.3-16.5) in 292 patients, overall mortality was 3.1% (n=9), with higher incidence of rehospitalizations (28% vs. 4.1%, p=0.01) and reinterventions (28% vs. 2.6%, p<0.01) observed in patients with occluded grafts. No statistically significant differences in follow-up outcomes were observed between male and female patients.Conclusions Early bypass graft occlusion, detected through standardized postoperative computed tomography scans prior to discharge, occurred significantly more frequently in female patients compared to male patients after isolated CABG surgery.