Baseline characteristics of the pooled study population
| Women | P value | Men | P value | Men versus women | |||
| BMS | DES | BMS | DES | P value | |||
| Median age, years (IQR) | 68.8 (60.2–75.1) | 69.3 (61.1–76.4) | 0.35 | 62.4 (54.5–70.1) | 62.2 (54.2–69.4) | 0.21 | <0.001 |
| Cardiac risk factors, n (%) | |||||||
| Former or current smoker | 194 (52.4) | 344 (48.7) | 0.25 | 772 (66.8) | 1655 (69.7) | 0.08 | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 73 (19.7) | 127 (18.0) | 0.49 | 176 (15.2) | 416 (17.5) | 0.09 | 0.17 |
| Hypertension | 255 (68.9) | 501 (71.0) | 0.49 | 740 (64.0) | 1464 (61.7) | 0.18 | <0.001 |
| Hypercholesterolaemia | 235 (63.5) | 450 (63.7) | 0.94 | 731 (63.2) | 1501 (63.3) | 0.99 | 0.81 |
| Family history of CVD | 143 (38.7) | 273 (38.7) | 0.79 | 385 (33.3) | 848 (35.7) | 0.32 | 0.08 |
| Renal disease | 27 (7.30) | 60 (8.5) | 0.49 | 63 (5.5) | 115 (4.6) | 0.44 | <0.001 |
| Previous MI | 38 (10.3) | 52 (7.4) | 0.10 | 137 (11.9) | 261 (11.0) | 0.45 | 0.007 |
| Previous revascularisation | 46 (12.4) | 66 (9.4) | 0.12 | 178 (15.4) | 372 (15.6) | 0.83 | <0.001 |
| Heart failure | 31 (8.4) | 49 (6.9) | 0.39 | 67 (5.8) | 103 (4.3) | 0.06 | 0.001 |
| Stroke or TIA | 12 (3.2) | 15 (2.1) | 0.27 | 27 (2.3) | 58 (2.4) | 0.84 | 0.85 |
| Clinical presentation | |||||||
| Stable | 154 (41.6) | 253 (35.8) | 0.06 | 431 (37.3) | 829 (34.9) | 0.17 | 0.21 |
| Unstable | 95 (25.7) | 251 (35.6) | 0.001 | 404 (35.0) | 791 (33.3) | 0.34 | 0.30 |
| STEMI | 121 (32.7) | 202 (28.6) | 0.16 | 321 (27.8) | 753 (31.7) | 0.02 | 0.80 |
| Comorbidities | |||||||
| Aortic aneurysm | 2 (0.5) | 0 (0.0) | 0.05 | 7 (0.6) | 23 (1.0) | 0.27 | 0.018 |
| PAOD | 14 (3.8) | 27 (3.8) | 0.97 | 50 (4.3) | 108 (4.6) | 0.76 | 0.35 |
| COPD | 26 (7.0) | 43 (6.1) | 0.55 | 77 (6.7) | 137 (5.8) | 0.30 | 0.68 |
| Liver disease | 2 (0.5) | 11 (1.6) | 0.15 | 24 (2.1) | 58 (2.4) | 0.50 | 0.024 |
| Rheumatological disorder | 27 (7.3) | 53 (7.5) | 0.90 | 29 (2.5) | 88 (3.7) | 0.06 | <0.001 |
| Peptic ulcer disease | 9 (2.4) | 23 (3.3) | 0.45 | 29 (2.5) | 60 (2.5) | 0.97 | 0.42 |
| Cancer | 17 (4.6) | 47 (6.7) | 0.17 | 48 (4.2) | 98 (4.1) | 0.98 | 0.49 |
| Diseased vessels | |||||||
| Diseased LM | 1 (0.3) | 6 (0.9) | 0.26 | 11 (1.0) | 29 (1.2) | 0.48 | 0.17 |
| Diseased LAD | 232 (62.7) | 443 (62.8) | 0.99 | 755 (65.3) | 1534 (64.6) | 0.70 | 0.21 |
| Diseased LCX | 117 (31.6) | 220 (31.2) | 0.88 | 414 (35.8) | 901 (38.0) | 0.21 | <0.001 |
| Diseased RCA | 205 (55.4) | 368 (52.1) | 0.31 | 603 (52.2) | 1244 (52.4) | 0.88 | 0.60 |
BMS, bare-metal stent;COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;CVD, Cardiovascular disease; DES, drug-eluting stent;IDDM, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus;LAD, left anterior descending artery;LCX, left circumflex artery;LM, left main artery;MI, myocardial infarction;PAOD, peripheral arterial occlusive disease;RCA, right coronary artery;STEMI, ST-elevation myocardial infarction; TIA, transient ischaemic attack.