Chronic Coronary Syndrome and Female Sex
This long-term study on 1268 patients investigated whether the female sex is a factor that impacts chronic coronary syndrome. Some differences were found between the sexes. Women showed more symptoms of angina; however, this is predicted to be due to the lower revascularisation rates in women. Furthermore, women with coronary artery disease tend to be older than men. It is hypothesised that this may be due to oestrogen exposure having a protective effect, but this idea is not widely accepted. Furthermore, a higher rate of heart failure was found in the long-term time frame. However, despite these differences between certain symptoms and events, overall, the female sex was not a factor of prognosis as found in this 17 year long study. Future research is needed into further understanding the different symptoms and timeframes of cardiovascular diseases between the sexes, as well as worldwide, as this study was mono-centric.
This review by Ruiz-Ortiz M et al. aimed to understand whether the female sex had an impact on the prognosis of chronic coronary syndrome.
Key learnings:
Overall, there appears to be no benefit in viewing the female sex as a prognostic factor of chronic coronary syndrome. However, further research into understanding the differences in sex and other risk factors will improve the treatment and management of cardiovascular patients.