Heart failure therapy better in women than in men

"Our finding was unexpected, but extremely important because this is the only heart treatment that is clearly better in women than men," said study author Dr. Arthur Moss, a cardiologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center in a statement.

And it could help make the case for providing the device, CRT-D, to women with mild symptoms like shortness of breath and trouble walking that results from the heart's inability to pump blood effectively. Last September, the US Food and Drug Administration extended the approval of the Boston Scientific device -- which helps to boost the heart's function and prevent sudden, irregular rhythm-related cardiac death -- to those with mild heart failure.

CRT devices -- there are many on the market -- generally cost $25,000 to $40,000 to implant and have been shown to lower a patient's risk of dying from heart failure by one-third over several years and to reduce the likelihood of rehospitalization by about half.

Patients, though, need to be aware of the surgery's complication rates. In the study, about 11 percent of those treated with CRT-D had complications such as infections, pain, and a collapsed lung. And women were more likely than men to have complications: About 3 percent of women, for example, experienced a collapsed lung when the device was inserted compared with 0.73 percent of men.