Young women who experience myocardial infarction have worse outcomes than men, according to an analysis published today.
The finding applies to women aged 50 and younger – and may be due to their receiving fewer medical interventions for the illness, researchers say.
The work was carried out by Dr Ron Blankstein at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, and colleagues. It is reported in the European Heart Journal today (14 October).
Currently, they write, “women are less likely than men to receive standard-of-care therapies, including invasive coronary angiography and reperfusion, and to be prescribed guideline-directed cardiovascular medications at discharge.”
Because there is less research on younger women, the team analysed figures on 2,097 patients, of whom 19% were female. Average age for all patients was 44 years.
The risk factor rates among the men and women were similar, though the female heart attack patients were more likely to have diabetes.
Results showed that as expected, the women were less likely to undergo invasive coronary angiography and coronary revascularisation, and were less likely to be discharged with aspirin, beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers, and statins.
The rate of death in hospital was similar, though women had a higher all-cause mortality rate after discharge from hospital.
The team concludes: “Women who experienced their first myocardial infarction under the age of 50 were less likely to undergo coronary revascularisation or be treated with guideline-directed medical therapies.
“Women who survived hospitalisation experienced similar cardiovascular mortality with significantly higher all-cause mortality than men. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying these differences is warranted.”
DeFilippis, E. M. et al. Women who experience a myocardial infarction at a young age have worse outcomes compared with men: the partners YOUNG-MI registry. European Heart Journal 14 October 2020; doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa662
https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa662
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