Introduction:
While men and women are at equal risk for peripheral arterial disease (PAD), studies suggest that women present at an older age and with more advanced disease. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate gender-based differences in disease presentation and its effect on treatment modality among patients who underwent peripheral vascular intervention (PVI) for PAD.
Methods:
Using national registry data from the Vascular Quality Initiative, univariate analysis, of patient-, limb- and artery-specific characteristics were performed by gender for procedures from 2010-2013. Statistical significance was determined by the Student’s T-test or Chi-squared test.
Results:
In this real-world cohort, there were 26,873 eligible procedures for 23,940 patients that had 30,668 limbs and 44,927 arteries treated. Compared to men, women presented at an older age (69 vs 71 years, p<0.001) and with more rest pain and tissue loss than claudication (RR=1.13, 95% CI: 1.10-1.16). Women had more severe lesions than men, as measured by TASC classification (TASC C or D RR= 1.81, 95% CI: 1.74-1.87) (
Table
1
). There were no meaningful gender-based differences in artery treated or treatment modality (
Figure
1
). Treatment modality was determined by disease severity (indication and TASC classification) and artery treated rather than gender.
Conclusion:
Although gender-based differences in PAD presentation exist, these differences do not extend to treatment modality, which is determined by disease severity and artery treated. Further investigation is required to appreciate the effect of disease severity and treatment modality on patient outcomes after PVI.
Variation in Antiplatelet Usage after Peripheral Vascular Intervention and Carotid Artery Stenting in the Vascular Quality Initiative
