In a review of records for 15,440 patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), researchers found that 4.24-percent of women died during or immediately after surgery, versus 2.23-percent of men, a statistically significant difference.
Lead author Dr. Ron Blankstein says the main reasons for the gender gap are the higher rates of "traditional risk factors" among women. In general, the study finds women were older and more likely than men to have problems such as diabetes and advanced heart failure.
But, another factor is body size. Patients with a relatively smaller "body surface area" are at greater risk of dying from heart bypass surgery, and in general, women have smaller bodies than men.
However, body size and traditional risk factors did not fully explain the higher death risk among female patients.
Blankenstein tells Reuters Health, "Just being female is itself a risk factor. We need to figure out why this is."
Blankstein and his colleagues report their findings in the annual Cardiovascular Surgery Supplement of Circulation
