Acute coronary syndrome in women of reproductive age

The Risk Factors of Acute Coronary Syndrome in Young Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has been one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. Despite common understanding regarding ACS as an older population's or man's disease, the number of young women affected by this condition is increasing. Many studies have assessed the risk factors of ACS, but only a few studies focused on this subpopulation. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aim to evaluate the risk factors predisposing to ACS in the young women population.

METHODS

Nine online databases were screened from the date of inception to September 2021, where the acquired studies were evaluated using the PRISMA statement. The inclusion criteria were a case control study with women age cut-off of <50 years. The risk factors of acute coronary syndrome were analyzed using a random-effect model, expressed as summary statistics of odds ratio (OR) for categorical variable and standard mean difference (SMD) for continuous data with normal distribution, with 95% confidence interval (CI). Quality assessment was conducted using the STROBE statement.

RESULTS

Seven studies with the total of 7042 patients met the inclusion criteria of this metaanalysis. Diabetes mellitus, high BMI, obesity, hypercholestrolemia, hypertension, smoking, and family history significantly increased acute coronary syndrome risk in young women. Other risks such as heavy alcohol consumption, oral contraceptive use, and postmenopausal state were associated with higher risk of ACS.

CONCLUSION

The independent risk factors which are strongly related to ACS in young women were diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia with odd ratios of 6.21, 5.32, and 4.07. Other risk factors which may be associated with an increased risk of ACS in young women were heavy alcohol consumption, oral contraceptive use, and postmenopausal state. Health promotion and effective intervention on this specific population regarding these risk factors can decrease young female cardiovascular morbidity and mortality as well as improved quality of life of women.

Sex and gender differences in presentation, treatment and outcomes in acute coronary syndrome, a 10 year study from a multi-ethnic Asian population: The Malaysian National Cardiovascular Disease Database-Acute Coronary Syndrome (NCVD-ACS) registry

BACKGROUND

Sex and gender differences in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have been well studied in the western population. However, limited studies have examined the trends of these differences in a multi-ethnic Asian population.

OBJECTIVES

To study the trends in sex and gender differences in ACS using the Malaysian NCVD-ACS Registry.

METHODS

Data from 24 hospitals involving 35,232 ACS patients (79.44% men and 20.56% women) from 1st. Jan 2012 to 31st. Dec 2016 were analysed. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, coronary risk factors, anthropometrics, treatments and outcomes. Analyses were done for ACS as a whole and separately for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), Non-STEMI and unstable angina. These were then compared to published data from March 2006 to February 2010 which included 13,591 ACS patients (75.8% men and 24.2% women).

RESULTS

Women were older and more likely to have diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, previous heart failure and renal failure than men. Women remained less likely to receive aspirin, beta-blocker, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I) and statin. Women were less likely to undergo angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) despite an overall increase. In the STEMI cohort, despite a marked increase in presentation with Killip class IV, women were less likely to received primary PCI or fibrinolysis and had longer median door-to-needle and door-to-balloon time compared to men, although these had improved. Women had higher unadjusted in-hospital, 30-Day and 1-year mortality rates compared to men for the STEMI and NSTEMI cohorts. After multivariate adjustments, 1-year mortality remained significantly higher for women with STEMI (adjusted OR: 1.31 (1.09-1.57), p<0.003) but were no longer significant for NSTEMI cohort.

CONCLUSION

Women continued to have longer system delays, receive less aggressive pharmacotherapies and invasive treatments with poorer outcome. There is an urgent need for increased effort from all stakeholders if we are to narrow this gap.

Characteristics and short-term outcomes of young women with acute myocardial infarction in Malaysia: a retrospective analysis from the Malaysian National Cardiovascular Database registry

OBJECTIVE

Young women form a minority but an important group of patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) as it can potentially cause devastating physical and socioeconomic impact. This study was aimed to investigate the characteristics and outcomes of young women with MI in Malaysia.

DESIGN

This is a retrospective analysis of women with ST-elevation MI (STEMI) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI) from 18 hospitals across Malaysia using the Malaysian National Cardiovascular Database registry-acute coronary syndrome (NCVD-ACS).

PARTICIPANTS

Women patients diagnosed with acute MI from year 2006 to 2013 were identified and divided into young (age ≤ 45, n=292) and older women (age >45, n=5580).

PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE

Comparison of demographics, clinical characteristics and in-hospital management was performed between young and older women. In-hospital and 30-day all-cause mortality were examined.

RESULTS

Young women (mean age 39±4.68) made up 5% of women with MI and were predominantly of Malay ethnicities (53.8%). They have a higher tendency to present as STEMI compared with older women. Young women have significantly higher rates of family history of premature coronary artery disease (CAD) (20.5% vs 7.8% p<0.0001). The prevalence of risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia was high in both groups. The primary reperfusion strategy was thrombolysis with no significant differences observed in the choice of intervention for both groups. Other than aspirin, rates of prescriptions for evidence-based medications were similar with >80% prescribed statins and aspirin. The all-cause mortality rates of young women were lower for both in-hospital and 30 days, especially in those with STEMI with adjusted mortality ratio to the older group, was 1:9.84.

CONCLUSION

Young women with MI were over-represented by Malays and those with a family history of premature CAD. Preventive measures are needed to reduce cardiovascular risks in young women. Although in-hospital management was similar, short-term mortality outcomes favoured young compared with older women.

Gender differences in mortality among ST elevation myocardial infarction patients in Malaysia from 2006 to 2013

BACKGROUND

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the leading causes of death in Malaysia. However, the prevalence of CAD in males is higher than in females and mortality rates are also different between the two genders. This suggest that risk factors associated with mortality between males and females are different, so we compared the clinical characteristics and outcome between male and female STEMI patients.

OBJECTIVES

To identify the risk factors associated with mortality for each gender and compare differences, if any, among ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients.

DESIGN

Retrospective analysis.

SETTINGS

Hospitals across Malaysia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We analyzed data on all STEMI patients in the National Cardiovascular Database-Acute coronary syndrome (NCVD-ACS) registry for the years 2006 to 2013 (8 years). We collected demographic and risk factor data (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking status, dyslipidaemia and family history of CAD). Significant variables from the univariate analysis were further analysed by a multivariate logistic analysis to identify risk factors and compare by gender.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Differential risk factors for each gender.

RESULTS

For the 19484 patients included in the analysis, the mortality rate over the 8 years was significantly higher in females (15.4%) than males (7.5%) (P < .001). The univariate analysis showed that the majority of male patients < 65 years while females were >=65 years. The most prevalent risk factors for male patients were smoking (79.3%), followed by hypertension (54.9%) and diabetes mellitus (40.4%), while the most prevalent risk factors for female patients were hypertension (76.8%), followed by diabetes mellitus (60%) and dyslipidaemia (38.1%). The final model for male STEMI patients had seven significant variables: Killip class, age group, hypertension, renal disease, percutaneous coronary intervention and family history of CVD. For female STEMI patients, the significant variables were renal disease, smoking status, Killip class and age group.

CONCLUSION

Gender differences existed in the baseline characteristics, associated risk factors, clinical presentation and outcomes among STEMI patients. For STEMI females, the rate of mortality was twice that of males. Once they reach menopausal age, when there is less protection from the estrogen hormone and there are other risk factors, menopausal females are at increased risk for STEMI.

LIMITATION

Retrospective registry data with inter-hospital variation.

Gender differences in the decrease of in-hospital mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction during the last 20 years in Switzerland

Objective

To assess temporal trends of in-hospital mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) enrolled in the Swiss nationwide registry (AMIS Plus) over the last 20 years with regard to gender, age and in-hospital treatment.

Methods

All patients with AMI from 1997 to 2016 were stratified according to ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) or non-STEMI (NSTEMI), and gender using logistic regression analyses.

Results

Among 51 725 patients, 30 398 (59%) had STEMI and 21 327 (41%) had NSTEMI; 73% were men (63.9±12.8 years) and 27% were women (71.7±12.5 years). Over 20 years, crude in-hospital STEMI mortality decreased from 9.8% to 5.5% in men and from 18.3% to 6.9% in women. In patients with NSTEMI, it decreased from 7.1% to 2.1% in men and from 11.0% to 3.6% in women. After adjustment for age, mortality decreased per additional admission year by 3% in men with STEMI (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.96 to 0.98, P<0.001), by 5% in women with STEMI (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.96, P<0.001), by 6% in men with NSTEMI (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.96, P<0.001) and by 5% in women with NSTEMI (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.97, P<0.001). In patients <60 years, a decrease in mortality was seen in women with STEMI (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.99, P=0.025) and NSTEMI (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.94, P<0.001) but not in men with STEMI (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.04, P=0.46) and NSTEMI (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.03, P=0.41). The mortality decrease in patients with AMI was closely associated with the increase in reperfusion therapy.

Conclusion

From 1997 to 2016, in-hospital mortality of patients with AMI in Switzerland has halved and was more pronounced in women, particularly in the age category <60 years.

Trial registration number

NCT01305785; Results.