Gender disparities in outcomes of cardiogenic shock secondary to Takotsubo cardiomyopathy

Background: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) has a preponderance for females, particularly postmenopausal. However, recent data from multicenter registries identified a worse prognosis in male patients, particularly with cardiogenic shock. We aim to investigate gender disparities in outcomes of TTC-associated cardiogenic shock (TTC-CS).

Methods: The National Readmission Database (2016-2020) was utilized to identify TTC-CS hospitalizations. Cohorts were stratified by gender. A Propensity Score Matching (PSM) model, which utilized complete Mahalanobis Distance Matching within the Propensity Score Caliper following multivariate regression, successfully matched males and females. Pearson's χ² test was applied to the propensity-matched cohorts to compare outcomes.

Results: Among 12,803 TTC-CS hospitalizations, the majority (74.1 %) were females (N: 9490), and 25.9 % were males (N: 3313). On propensity-matched cohorts (2609), males were found to have higher in-hospital mortality (31 % vs. 26 %, p < 0.001), higher incidence of sudden cardiac arrest (14 % vs. 10.8 %, p < 0.001), endotracheal intubation (52.1 % vs. 48.8 %, p: 0.001), acute liver injury (18 % vs. 15.9 %, p: 0.004), acute stroke (7.2 % vs. 5.8 %, p: 0.004), cardiac arrhythmias (55.1 % vs. 49.3 %, p < 0.001) and acute kidney injury (63.1 % vs. 49 %, p < 0.001); while female patients were found to have higher utilization of mechanical circulatory support (MCS) modalities (16.1 % vs 13.2 %, p < 0.001).Males had a higher adjusted cost of hospitalization ($54,537 vs. $42,805, p < 0.001) with a higher median length of hospital stay (10 vs. 9 days, p < 0.001). The two groups had no significant difference in 30, 90, and 180-day readmission rates (p > 0.05). From 2016 to 2020; mortality has not changed significantly for TTC-CS, while the use of percutaneous coronary angiogram (PCA) and MCS has down-trended (p-trend < 0.05).

Conclusion: For TTC-CS hospitalization, males have higher in-hospital mortality and complication rates, along with higher LOS and cost of hospitalization. Despite advances in the management of CS, there was no significant difference in mortality from 2016 to 2020.