Background: In our study, we evaluated the effects of female gender on mortality and morbidity rates of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Methods: A total of 460 patients (351 males, 109 females; mean age 60.3±11.2 years; range 16 to 83 years) who underwent CABG in our clinic between December 2006 and September 2009 were included in our study. Patients were grouped according to their gender and compared.

Results: Twenty-four percent of the patients were female and they were older than male patients (p=0.03). Diabetes mellitus (p=0.01) and hypertension (p=0.005) were found more frequently in female patients while chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p=0.015) and peripheral artery disease (p=0.003) were found more frequently in male patients. Coronary endarterectomy (p=0.01) was performed more frequently in female patients. The rates of postoperative atrial fibrillation (p=0.04) and bleeding that required revision (p=0.02) were higher in male patients. The mortality rates were 3.6% (n=4) for female patients and 1.4% (n=5) for male patients. Coronary endarterectomy and advanced left ventricular dysfunction were statistically significant factors for mortality in female patients. The estimated survival rate of the discharged female patients at 55 months was 94.7% while the estimated survival rate of the discharged male patients at 61 months was 94.1%.

Conclusion: Based on our findings, the female patients were older and had higher rates of diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The in-hospital mortality rate of the female patients was almost two times higher than in male patients. However, there was no significant difference between the long-term survival rates of female and male patients after CABG.

Keywords : Coronary artery bypass grafting; gender; survival rate; women