Cardiac-specific sympathetic activation in men and women with and without heart failure

BackgroundClinical outcomes for cardiovascular syndromes such as heart failure differ between men and women.ObjectiveTo seek phenotypic evidence for sex-differences in cardiac-specific sympathetic nervous system activation, as abnormal sympathetic nervous system activation is a key pathophysiological mechanism in heart failure (HF).MethodsPatients who underwent evaluation of cardiac norepinephrine spillover (CNESP) using radiotracer methodology were identified retrospectively, and included in the analysis if they met criteria for either a normal left ventricular (NLV) function group, or systolic HF group, defined as an LV ejection fraction