Women are a fifth more likely to die after undergoing routine surgery for coronary heart disease (CHD) then men, new research suggests.

Females who have a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), formerly known as an angioplasty with a stent, are 20 per cent more likely to pass away as a result of the operation, according to a 10-year study of more than 6.6 million patients.

PCI is the most common treatment for CHD and involves using a catheter to open up narrow or blocked blood vessels in the heart.

Researchers believe this may be due to women receiving a worse quality of care than men.

Study author Professor Mamas Mamas, from Keele University, said: 'We know that women are often less likely to receive evidence-based therapies or have best practice whilst undergoing these procedures, and our analysis shows that even in contemporary practice this remains a problem.'

Women are a fifth more likely to die after routine surgery for coronary heart disease than men, new research suggests. The treatment involves a catheter to open up blocked vessels (stock)

WHAT IS CORONARY HEART DISEASE? Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of death both in the UK and worldwide. CHD is sometimes called ischaemic heart disease. The main symptoms of CHD are: angina (chest pain), heart attacks, heart failure. However, not everyone has the same symptoms and some people may not have any before CHD is diagnosed. Coronary heart disease is the term that describes what happens when your heart's blood supply is blocked or interrupted by a build-up of fatty substances in the coronary arteries. Over time, the walls of your arteries can become furred up with fatty deposits. This process is known as atherosclerosis and the fatty deposits are called atheroma. You can reduce your risk of getting CHD by making some simple lifestyle changes. These include: eating a healthy, balanced diet

being physically active

giving up smoking

controlling blood cholesterol and sugar levels Source: NHS Advertisement

The researchers analysed more than six million PCI procedures that were carried out in adults in the US between 2004 and 2014.

The study therefore assessed all the PCI operations that took place in the US within that decade. Of these surgeries, 66 per cent occurred in men.

The female participants were on average five years older and were more likely to be admitted for the procedure following a heart attack than their male counterparts.

Results, published in the journal PLOS One, show more women died following a PCI procedure in each of the 10 years analysed, aside from 2005 and 2010.

Such fatalities likely occurred due to bleeding, with female patients being 80 per cent more likely to suffer.

Women are also 53 per cent more likely to endure vascular complications, such as injury to the blood vessel walls, after a PCI procedure than men.

Professor Mamas said: 'These differences in clinical outcomes persist even after adjustment for potential confounders and show that women are more likely to die in-hospital or suffer a complication than men.'

As well as women potentially receiving worse care than men, the researchers believe the females participants may have been more likely to die due to them being older, which suggests they are not diagnosed with heart conditions as early as men.

Women may also be more at risk of bleeding than men even if they are otherwise healthy.

Professor Mamas added: 'By identifying that these differences exist, more research can be done into understanding the reasons for these disparities, which will hopefully lead to an improvement in patient outcomes in the future.'

Researchers believe this may be due to women receiving a worse quality of care (stock)

This comes after previous research suggests a handful of walnuts a day may prevent heart disease and bowel cancer.

Eating just a third of a cup of walnuts for six weeks significantly reduces the production of excess bile acids, as well as lowering 'bad' cholesterol levels, a study found.

Previous research has linked such bile acids to bowel cancer, while lower cholesterol levels are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.

Researchers, from the University of Illinois, believe walnuts' high-fibre content encourages the growth of 'good' bacteria in the gut, which benefits people's heart and colon health.

The scientists also found that despite walnuts being relatively high in calories, with around 28 per nut, only 80 per cent of them are absorbed, with gut bacteria using up the remaining 20 per cent.