The following facts highlight the necessity of improving our clinical approach to the identification and management of coronary artery disease (CAD) in women.
- In the US in 2003, cardiovascular disease claimed the life of almost 1 woman per minute.2
- After age 40 years, women have an almost 1 in 3 (32%) lifetime risk of developing CHD.4
- In the US, 20,000 women aged <65 years die annually from myocardial infarction (MI), and a third of them are aged <55 years.5
- The CHD death rate is higher for African-American women (160.3/100,000) than for white women (125.1/100,000).2
- Based on results of the Framingham Heart Study, sudden death is often the first symptom of disease; 64% of women who died suddenly from CHD had no previous symptoms.2
- 38% of women die within 1 year of having an initial recognized MI, compared with 25% of men.2
- In a study of 150 women who had an MI, 48% had undiagnosed CHD even though they had 8732 ambulatory visits and 457 hospitalizations over the 10 years before their MIs.6
Obviously, our knowledge about heart disease in women and our clinical approach to CAD screening in this population need to catch up to the actual risk posed by this devastating disease. Nuclear cardiology will play an important role in the improvement of heart-disease evaluation and management in women as well as in men.
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Facts About CAD in Women
Gender Differences
Symptoms
Chest Pain and Myocardial Infarction
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