SummaryDiabetes mellitus has a greater effect on mortality rates due to coronary artery disease in women than in men. Although women undergoing coronary intervention in general have a higher frequency of adverse outcomes than men, the effect of gender among diabetic patients on clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been well established in the drug-eluting stent (DES) era. We have investigated the impact of gender on long-term clinical outcome in these high risk populations. We enrolled 404 consecutive patients (74 women and 330 men) with diabetes mellitus who underwent elective PCI (85% with DES). We evaluated the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), which is a composite of total all-cause death, acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and target lesion revascularization (TLR) during a period of 4 years after coronary intervention. The women were significantly older, more likely to have dyslipidemia, and had significantly higher systolic blood pressure and LDL-C values than men. The use of insulin and angiotensin receptor blockers was more frequent among the women (32.4% versus 21.0%, P = 0.04 and 60.8% versus 39.8%, P < 0.01, respectively). The angiographic profiles of both were comparable. At four-year clinical follow-up, cumulative incidence of MACE was identical between the women and the men (16.2% versus 15.5%, P = 0.90; adjusted HR 1.23, 95% CI 0.61-2.50, P = 0.56). Although the baseline characteristics of the women were worse, clinical outcomes did not significantly differ between women and men among diabetic patients after elective PCI. (Int Heart J 2011; 52: 348-352) Key words: Gender, Diabetes mellitus, Cardiovascular disease, Coronary intervention, Drug-eluting stent P atients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than the general population. 1,2) Diabetes has a greater effect on coronary artery disease (CAD) mortality rates among women than men. [3][4][5] Previous studies have demonstrated that diabetes mellitus is associated with accelerated development of atherosclerosis characterized by small vessels, long lesions, and a greater plaque burden. These findings have been attributed to worse outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) among patients with DM.6-8) Drug-eluting stents (DES) have remarkably reduced the incidence of restenosis compared with bare-metal stents (BMS) in randomized trials 9,10) and several studies have found a favorable clinical outcome of DES for patients with DM. 11,12) Gender differences were associated with presenting symptoms, method of diagnosis, baseline comorbidities, and outcomes of patients in the early period of balloon angioplasty. 13,14) Gender-based differences in outcomes after PCI narrowed after introduction of the BMS as well as DES, 15,16) and gender was not independently associated with adverse outcomes especially in low risk populations. However, gender differences among diabetic patients after PCI in the period of DES have not been fully elucidated. Therefore,...