Abstract WP375: Gender Differences in Etiologies of Stroke-Related Deaths in an Era of Availability for Stroke Intervention
Background: Stroke is a disease that affects women unequally more than men. With the aging of the US population, stroke prevalence is projected to increase, especially among elderly females. In an era of stroke where the availability of treatment for acute stroke and its early complications continues to rise, we sought to determine if there are identifiable differences for causes of stroke-related death among women and men. Methods: We used a registry of stroke deaths following acute ischemic stroke at a single academic center from 2009 to 2017. Past medical history, in-hospital data, and cause of death was retrospectively collected from chart review. Female baseline characteristics were compared to male. Causes of deaths among females >/=65 versus <65 were compared using student’s t- and x 2 tests. Results: Among all stroke deaths (n=162), there were 72 (44.%) females, 90 (55.6%) males, with a mean age of 73 and 69, respectively. The proportion of smokers was higher among men (60.2% v 28.6%, p<0.001). Other medical history and social history did not have baseline differences. Among causes of death, there was no difference seen between female and male groups for malignant edema (43.1 v 33.3%,p=0.20), index stroke (2.8 v 3.3%,p=1.00), systemic complication (27.8 v 35.6%, p=0.29), withdrawal of care (12.5 v 22.2%,p=0.11); however among post-treatment hemorrhage/complications, a trend was seen towards females that did not reach statistical significance (13.9 v 5.6%,p=0.07). Of these female deaths from post-treatment complications, 6 or 60% received both IV thrombolysis (IV-tPA) and endovascular treatment (EVT), while the minority received either (30% IV-tPA, 10% EVT). Comparing causes of death among elderly females >/=65 versus <65, there were no differences as well (malignant edema 43.1 v 42.9%, p=0.98; index stroke 3.9 v 0%, p=1.00; systemic complications 27.5 v 28.6%, p=0.92; post-treatment complications 17.7 v 4.8%, p=0.26; withdrawal of care 7.8 v 23.8%, p=0.11). Conclusion: The trend for higher rate of post-treatment complications in women deserves further study in larger datasets. Women could be at higher risk for hemorrhage following IV-tPA and EVT due to older age.