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Introduction The increasing use of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) has improved clinical outcome in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients, but the impact of sex on early and mid-term outcomes remains to be defined. Methods Medline, Cochrane Library, Biomed Central, and Google Scholar were searched for articles describing differences in baseline, periprocedural, and midterm outcomes after pPCI, by sex. The primary end point was all-cause mortality at early and mid-term follow-up. Secondary endpoints included in-hospital bleeding and stroke. Results Sixteen studies were included. Women were older, had more frequent hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hypercholesterolemia, as well as longer ischemia time and more shock at presentation. Men were more likely to have had a previous myocardial infarction. Female sex emerged as independently associated to early mortality (OR 1.1; 95%CI, 1.02-1.18) but not to mid-term mortality (OR, 1.01; 95%CI, 0.99-1.03). The pooled analysis showed a significantly higher risk of in hospital stroke (OR, 1.69; 95%CI, 1.11-2.56) and major bleeding (OR, 2.04; 95%CI, 1.51-2.77) in women. Conclusions As compared to men, women undergoing pPCI have more bleedings and strokes, and a worse early, but not mid-term mortality. These findings may allow a better risk stratification of pPCI patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a widespread procedure, but no randomized study on its outcome in high-risk patients is available. Our aims were to determine the efficacy and safety of this procedure in a cohort of high-risk patients through the observation of clinical adverse events and residual shunt, to evaluate the impact of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) guidance during the procedure, and investigate the relationship between the anatomical and clinical characteristics and the outcome. Methods and Results: Ninety-five patients underwent PFO closure for cryptogenic cerebral ischemia; each of them presented one or more of the following risk factors: recurrent cerebral ischemia (9.5%), atrial septum aneurysm (ASA, 74.5%), prominent Eustachian valve (EV, 23.2%), severe basal shunt (9.5%), thrombophilic factors (20%), deep vein thrombosis (4.2%). The procedure was performed successfully in all patients. On median follow-up of 18 months, the neurologic recurrent events rate was 1.1% and the major adverse cardiac event (MACE) rate was 1.1%. At 6-month TEE follow-up, the residual shunt rate was 12.6% (3.1% moderate to severe). A significant correlation was found between residual shunt and prominent EV alone (P = 0.036) or in association with ASA (P = 0.021). All adverse events occurred in the first 8 months, and the event-free survival rate was 86.2%. Conclusions: Our study suggests that transcatheter PFO closure is a safe procedure even in a selected population of high-risk patients, presenting satisfactory efficacy and safety. The presence of a prominent EV alone or with ASA correlates positively with the occurrence of residual shunt. (J Interven Cardiol 2011;24:477-484) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]