Women with postoperative atrial fibrillation have a higher risk of mortality than men, according to a study published Aug. 21 in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers from Boston-based Harvard Medical School, Boston University School of Medicine, Chestnut Hill, Mass.-based Boston College and Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine collaborated on the study.
Records of 21,568 open-heart surgery patients treated at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Massachusetts General Hospital in Somerville, Mass., between Jan. 1, 2002, and Oct. 1, 2016, were analyzed for the study, with followup occurring until Dec. 1, 2022.
From the total patient group, 40.8% of women and 38.8% of men developed postoperative atrial fibrillation. Researchers said when a multivariable logistic regression model was applied to the data, they found women had lower risk of postoperative atrial fibrillation.
After following up on patients who developed postoperative atrial fibrillation, researchers found that 50.4% of women and 48.9% of men had died. When compared to the mortality rate for same-sex patients without postoperative atrial fibrillation, men had a 17% higher mortality risk while women had a 31% higher mortality risk.
"These findings suggest that more vigilant monitoring and long-term follow-up care for women who develop poAF after cardiac surgery are warranted," the study authors wrote.