IMR Press / RCM / Volume 10 / Issue S2 / DOI: 10.3909/ricm10S20003

Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine (RCM) is published by IMR Press from Volume 19 Issue 1 (2018). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with MedReviews, LLC.

Open Access Review
Sex Differences in Response to Treatments for Chronic Coronary Artery Disease
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1 Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2009, 10(S2), 14–23; https://doi.org/10.3909/ricm10S20003
Published: 20 February 2009
Abstract
More women than men die of coronary artery disease (CAD) each year. In women, cardiovascular disease can present atypically and may be caused by small vessel disease rather than by major epicardial coronary luminal narrowing. Women with CAD tend to have more diffuse disease, endothelial dysfunction, and microvascular disease than men. In those studies that have looked at sex differences in treatment response, sex-specific physiologic, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic differences appear to be the cause. Women have smaller hearts, higher heart rates, shorter cardiac cycle lengths, and longer QT intervals than men. CAD medical treatments such as antiplatelet agents, anticoagulants, β-blockers, and antithrombin agents may have different effects in women and men. Only 30% of percutaneous coronary interventions are performed in women. Women are less likely than men to undergo diagnostic angiography and are more likely to experience delays in treatment.
Keywords
Coronary artery disease
Women's health
Antiplatelet agents
Anticoagulants
β-blockers
Antithrombin
Percutaneous coronary intervention
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