Aims: To evaluate the relationship between sex, age and outcome in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).
Methods & Results: We used proportional hazard modelling to examine the association between sex, age and all-cause mortality in consecutive patients with DCM. Overall, 881 patients (290 women, median age 52 years) were followed for a median of 4.9 years. Women were more likely to present with heart failure (64.0% vs 54.5%; p=0.007) and had more severe symptoms (p<0.001) compared to men. Women had smaller left ventricular end-diastolic volume (125ml/m2 vs 135ml/m2, p<0.001), higher left ventricular ejection fraction (40.2% vs 37.9%, p=0.019) and were less likely to have mid-wall late gadolinium enhancement (23.0% vs 38.9%, p<0.0001).
During follow-up 149 (16.9%) patients died, including 41 (4.7%) who died suddenly. After adjustment, all-cause mortality (HR 0.61; 95%CI 0.41:0.92; p=0.018) was lower in women, with similar trends for cardiovascular (HR 0.60; 95%CI 0.35-1.05; p=0.07), non-sudden (HR 0.63; 95%CI 0.39-1.02; p=0.06) and sudden death (HR 0.70, 95%CI 0.30:1.63; p=0.41). All-cause mortality (per 10 yrs: HR 1.36, 95%CI 1.20-1.55; p<0.00001) and non-sudden death (per 10 yrs: HR 1.51, 95%CI 1.26 – 1.82; p<0.00001) increased with age. Cumulative incidence curves confirmed favourable outcomes, particularly in women and those <60 years. Increased all-cause mortality in patients >60 years of age was driven by non-sudden death.
Conclusion: Women with DCM have better survival compared to men, which may partly be due to less severe left ventricular dysfunction and a smaller scar burden. There is increased mortality driven by non-sudden death in patients >60 years of age that is less marked in women. Outcomes with contemporary treatment were favourable, with a low incidence of sudden death.