Studies explain why women are more likely to die than men

Brussels: Women are less likely to receive life-saving treatment, according to new research Cardiogenic shock Than men.

The results of the study were presented at the ESC Acute Cardio VascularCare2022, a scientific conference of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

“Women and men in our study showed similar clinical features after developing cardiogenic shock. heart attack“It’s a retrospective study, so it’s hard to know why clinicians made certain treatment decisions,” said Dr. Sarah Hore, research author at the University of Copenhagen Hospital in Denmark. , Shows that greater awareness among medical professionals that women can have heart attacks and develop cardiogenic shock can be a step towards fair management and outcomes. . “

Cardiogenic shock is a life-threatening condition in which the heart suddenly fails to pump enough blood to supply enough oxygen to the body’s organs. This is usually caused by a large heart attack. It is estimated that up to 10 percent of patients with a heart attack that affects a large area of ​​the heart also develop cardiogenic shock. Only half of the patients who experience cardiogenic shock will survive.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in treatment and survival between women and men with heart attack and cardiogenic shock.

This study included all consecutive adults admitted to two highly specialized centers providing cardiogenic shock care to two-thirds of Denmark’s population between 2010 and 2017. Was there. Data on patient characteristics, treatment, and 30-day mortality were extracted from medical records. Long-term mortality data was obtained from the Danish National Patient Enrollment.

A total of 1,716 heart attack patients with cardiogenic shock were enrolled in the study, of which 438 (26 percent) were women. The average age of women was 71 and that of men was 66. Patient characteristics were similar between genders, with the exception of hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which were more common among women. Women were significantly more likely to be admitted to a local hospital first than men (41% women vs. 30% men), while significantly more men presented with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (25% women vs. men). 48%)).

At the time of the shock, women and men had equivalent clinical parameters such as blood pressure, heart rate, plasma lactate (a marker of organ oxygen levels), and left ventricular ejection fraction (cardiac pumping function).

When it comes to treatment, a fairly low percentage of women have mechanical circulation support (19% women vs. 26% men), minimally invasive or surgical procedures to restore blood flow to occluded arteries (83% women vs. 88% men). ), And ventilation received mechanical treatment (67% female vs 82% male). Women were significantly less likely to survive in the short and long term than men. Thirty days after the heart event, only 38% of women were alive, compared to 50% of men. At the age of 8.5, 27% of women were alive, compared to 39% of men.

Researchers performed multivariate analysis to see if gender was independently associated with each treatment and mortality. The analysis is about age and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest at presentation, as both factors affect the outcome of patients with heart attack with cardiogenic shock and are known to differ between women and men in this condition. Adjusted. The analysis revealed that female gender was independently associated with decreased utilization of mechanical circulation support and decreased short-term and long-term survival.

“There is more evidence that women with acute heart disease are more likely to have non-specific symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, coughing, malaise, back, jaw and neck pain than men. This may be one of the reasons why more women than men were first admitted to a local hospital instead of a specialized hospital in our study. Women may have symptoms other than chest pain. Increased awareness of the presence may help minimize delays in diagnosis and treatment and improve prognosis. “

“The treatment guidelines are primarily based on studies that enrolled men. Further studies to determine if women and men with cardiogenic shock may benefit from different interventions. Is necessary. ”

(The article was created by ANI. Only the headline has changed.)