Sex-based outcomes in surgical repair of acute type A aortic dissection: A meta-analysis and meta-regression

• Published in: The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery Vol. 167; no. 1; pp. 76 - 85.e13
• Main Authors: Lawrence, Kyle W, Yin, Kanhua, Connelly, Haley L, Datar, Yesh, Brydges, Hilliard, Balasubramaniyan, Ramkumar, Karlson, Karl J, Edwards, Niloo M, Dobrilovic, Nikola
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-01-2024
• Subjects: Aortic Dissection - surgery; Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation - adverse effects; Female; Humans; Male; Postoperative Complications; Renal Dialysis; Reoperation; Risk Factors; Stroke - etiology; Treatment Outcome; meta-analysis; mortality; reoperation; type A aortic dissection; sex-based differences
• ISSN: 0022-5223; 1097-685X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2022.02.005

Epidemiologic variation with respect to sex has been established in aortic dissection. However, current literature on sex-based outcomes in patients with aortic dissection is conflicting. In this study we aimed to compare perioperative outcomes according to sex in patients treated surgically for acute type A aortic dissection.
PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for studies that reported sex-based differences in postoperative outcomes among patients with acute type A aortic dissection. The primary outcome was in-hospital/30-day mortality, and secondary outcomes included postoperative stroke, renal failure requiring dialysis, and reoperation for bleeding. Data were aggregated using the random effects model as pooled risk ratio (RR). Meta-regression was applied to identify sources of heterogeneity between studies.
Nine of 1022 studies were included for final analysis comprising 3338 female and 5979 male participants. Compared with male sex, female sex was associated with similar in-hospital/30-day mortality (RR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.85-1.28; P = .67), postoperative stroke risk (RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.91-1.25; P = .43), and postoperative risk of acute renal failure requiring dialysis (RR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.59-1.19; P = .32). A decreased risk of reoperation for bleeding (RR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.75-0.94; P < .01) was observed in female participants. Meta-regression analysis indicated that differences in preoperative shock were a source of heterogeneity in the sex difference in in-hospital/30-day mortality across studies.
Among patients treated surgically for acute type A aortic dissection, female sex was not associated with increased risk of short-term mortality nor with major postoperative complications. Male sex was associated with a greater risk of postoperative bleeding.