Sex differences in the diagnosis, treatment, and outcome of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension enrolled in the registry to evaluate early and long-term pulmonary arterial hypertension disease management.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a life-threatening disease that affects more women than men. The reasons for the female preponderance are unclear, and there are limited data available for men with PAH.

METHODS: Data from the Registry to Evaluate Early and Long-term PAH Disease Management (REVEAL Registry) were analyzed to explore sex differences among patients with PAH with regard to 2-year survival from enrollment and 5-year survival from time of diagnosis.

RESULTS: The data set included 2,318 women and 651 men. More women had PAH associated with connective tissue disease (P < .001), and more men had portopulmonary hypertension (P < .001) and HIV-associated PAH (P < .001). More women had congenital heart disease-associated PAH (P = .017), thyroid disease (P < .001), and depression reported (P ≤ .001). At diagnosis, men had higher mean pulmonary artery pressure (53 ± 14 vs 51 ± 14.3 mm Hg; P = .013) and mean right atrial pressure (10 ± 6 vs 9 ± 6 mm Hg; P = .031). Women had better survival estimates for 2 years from enrollment and for 5 years from diagnosis. Stratifying by age showed that survival from enrollment was similar between men and women aged < 60 years at enrollment, whereas men aged ≥ 60 years have lower survival rates compared with women aged ≥ 60 years.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight similarities and differences between men and women with PAH, raising questions for future exploration regarding the role of hormones and sex in causation and survival in PAH.

TRIAL REGISTRY: ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT00370214; URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov.