Young women more likely than young men to die in hospital following heart attack

 

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Carol Forsloff - Young women have a greater risk of dying after a heart attack and hospitalization than young men do, researchers at UMDNJ - Robert wood Johnson Medical School have found, a surprising result based upon women's longer life spans. 

What does this mean for the treatment of women?  That's the conclusion by the researchers, the need to find out why. 

In the present research a sampling of 423,000 patients looking at women between the ages of 35 and 54 found they were more likely to die in hospitals following heart attacks than men of a similar age. 

This is unusual in that women develop their first acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack, about 10 years later than men. 

The study was published in the July 2010 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.

Researchers included John B. Kostis, MD, the John G. Detwiler Chair of Cardiology, chair of the department of medicine, and founding director of The Cardiovascular Institute of New Jersey at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and chief of medical service at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the research team examined a statewide New Jersey database known as Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System (MIDAS) that tracks myocardial infarction hospitalizations and coronary heart disease deaths from 1990 to 2004. The team looked at data in four age groups: 35 to 54, 55 to 64, 65 to 74 and greater than age 75.  

“During the 15-year period of study, fewer young women (ages 35 to 54) were hospitalized with myocardial infarction than men, however a greater percentage of them died,” said Dr. Kostis.  

According to Dr. Kostis, the marked difference of in-hospital deaths of young women compared with young men could be attributed most directly to the fact that a greater percentage of young men died out-of-the-hospital from coronary heart disease.  

However the study also indicated that there are gender differences in the types of treatment between men and women that may play a role in the fact that more young women die than men following hospitalization after a heart attack.  Researchers observe how young women were less likely to undergo invasive cardiovascular procedures, including cardiac catheterization, percutaneous coronary intervention, and coronary artery bypass grafting than young men.  

What the research also discovered is that mortality rates in the past 15 years have decreased significantly for both  sexes in general outside of the hospital for those who have coronary heart disease. 

“Improved education of the risks of heart disease and of its different presentation in men and women has helped us better treat patients and ultimately reduce the mortality rate of young women and men,” Dr. Kostis said.