Gender disparities in fenestrated and branched endovascular aortic repair

OBJECTIVES: Gender disparities in risk factors and outcomes following aortic repair are important issues in healthcare. To date, no large-scale multicentre study addresses this topic in complex endovascular aortic repair. We aimed to determine the outcomes following fenestrated or branched endovascular aortic repair of aneurysms and dissections in female and male patients.

METHODS: Health insurance claims data of Germany's third largest insurance provider, DAK-Gesundheit, were used to investigate gender disparities in elective fenestrated or branched endovascular aortic repair of thoraco-abdominal or abdominal aortic aneurysms or dissections performed between 2008 and 2017. Elixhauser comorbidities and the linear van Walraven score were used to adjust for confounders in the multivariable analyses.

RESULTS: There were 959 patients in the cohort, in whom 163 (17%) were female. The mean age was 73 ± 8 years with no differences between females and males. No gender disparities were observed regarding the van Walraven comorbidity score (6.9 vs 6.8, P = 0.83), but complications occurred more frequently in females. Acute renal failure (relative risk 1.71, 95% confidence interval 1.06-2.77), paraplegia (relative risk 2.71, 95% confidence interval 1.28-5.77) and bleeding or anaemia requiring transfusion (relative risk 1.76, 95% confidence interval 1.39-2.22) were more common in women. In multivariable models, female patients were at a higher risk of in-hospital death (odds ratio 3.206, P < 0.001). Consequently, female gender was associated with lower long-term survival (hazard ratio 1.506, P = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS: In complex endovascular aortic repair, females are more likely to experience complications and have worse in-hospital and, consequently, long-term survival when compared to males. Future studies should include anatomic parameters to determine the impact of anatomy on outcome disparities.