Gender Difference in the Risk of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy in Patients Undergoing Coronary Angiography or Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a common complication of coronary angiography/percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Identification of high-risk patients and optimal periprocedural management are key points to reduce the incidence of this iatrogenic complication. We evaluated the impact of gender on CIN after coronary angiography/PCI. We enrolled 2851 consecutive patients (730 females and 1851 males) undergoing coronary angiography/PCI. Baseline clinical and procedural characteristics were collected according to gender. CIN was defined as an absolute ≥0.5mg/dL or a relative ≥25% increase in creatinine level 24 to 48 hours after the procedure. The incidence of CIN was 12.6% and was significantly higher among females (15.6% vs 11.4%, odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.42 [1.11-1.82]; P =.004), but this result was not confirmed at multivariate analysis after correction for all baseline confounders (adjusted OR [95% CI] = 1.14 [0.81-1.60]; P = 0.45). In conclusion, we showed that female gender is associated with an increased risk of CIN after coronary angiography/PCI. However, this finding was not confirmed after correction for baseline confounders. Therefore, the higher risk profile rather than female gender itself may contribute to the higher occurrence of CIN among women.