Cardiovascular Disease in Women

More women have died from cardiovascular disease since middle 1980’s than men due to the women’s older ageand multiple comorbid conditions. Additionally, women with acute coronary syndrome have worse outcomes, includingsudden cardiac death and death before arriving to the hospital, due to the women’s atypical symptoms andthe delayed diagnosis and treatment. There are many reports on the gender-specific differences in the pathophysiologyof ischemic heart disease. In addition to the previous reports, the WISE study was started for improvingboth our understanding and the clinical outcomes of ischemic heart disease of women. These studies have suggestedthe structural and functional differences in the female vasculature, new paradigms for the diagnosis and treatmentof the ischemic heart disease of women, the various roles of estrogen and the new therapeutic targets forpreventing ischemic heart disease (IHD) or improving cardiovascular outcomes. On-going and future studies shouldfocus on further understanding of the pathophysiology, the clinical usefulness of the new diagnostic markers thatmay related to the IHD of women, and the development of non-invasive, easily reproducible diagnostic tools for earlydetection of IHD and for predicting the adverse outcomes. (Korean Circulation J 2006;36:771-779) KCI Citation Count: 0